Alice's Wonderland
by A-D-E-E-E-R
Summary: She was desperate. She had no home, no money, and a criminal organisation gunning for her. She thought that she was dead. A goner for sure. That was until the Doctor changed her life, but is it for the better when Alice gets wrapped up in all things dangerous? DISCONTINUED.
1. Alice Lockwood

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, or anything related to the show. All rights go to the BBC. I own Alice :)**

**Author's Note: Hello! :) Here is the new and improved and totally different Alice-the girl who didn't need a catchphrase. This story will start from 9 and go to 11 hopefully so I hope that you like it!**

**Enjoy:**

"Doesn't that change history if he writes about blue ghosts?" Rose asked as she picked up her skirt and jogged up to the console where the Doctor was standing.

"In a week's time it's 1870, and that's the year he dies. Sorry. He'll never get to tell his story," the Doctor replied, flicking buttons on the console.

"Oh no, he was so nice," Rose whispered sadly.

She cast a look back to the doors, of which Charles Dickens stood on the other side of.

"But in your time, he was already dead," the Doctor countered, "We've brought him back to life, and he's more alive now than he's ever been, old Charlie boy."

Rose nodded, seeing his point.

"Well that was a day and a half, wasn't it?" she laughed, breaking the sad atmosphere.

The Doctor grinned, "Yup, that is how life is around here, you should know that by now."

There was a few moments silence as Rose just watched the Doctor. The way his leather jacket swung around his back to reveal his trusty jumper when he reached across to whack another button. The way his eyes lit up when he smiled. The way _her_ eyes lit up when he smiled.

"Well… I am going to bed, Doctor. Being chased by ghost creature thingies really takes it out of a girl."

"Do you remember where it is?"

"Hmm? Of course I remember. Two lefts and one right," Rose replied confidently.

"Yeah, the TARDIS has a habit of switching around the rooms. I think…" the Doctor squinted his eyes and pointed to the fourth corridor, "she's moved it there. Give me a shout if not."

"Thanks," she smiled and uncertainly walked in the direction of his pointing finger. Sure enough, the first door she came to had a budding rose on. She grinned and pushed it open.

Her room had changed. Before, it was pretty dull, with a small single bed, a tiny closet and drab, grey walls. Now, the walls were painted scarlet with a green vine weaving around the top. A large mahogany wardrobe stood proudly in the corner of the considerably larger room and a beautiful four poster bed took centre stage.

It seemed that the TARDIS had finally approved of Rose.

_I could get used to this, _the girl thought as she dropped back into the cushiony heaven that was her new bed.

* * *

A far cry away from Rose's luxury, was Alice Lockwood.

She was laid awake in her bed. Listening. Waiting. Until she heard the small click of the front door, indicating that the lock had been turned and the social worker had gone out for her nightly cigarette.

Alice swung her legs over her bed and peeled back her duvet covers to reveal herself fully dressed. She quietly slipped her feet into the boots hidden strategically under her bed so that she just had to stand up. She tiptoed to the wardrobe, careful not to wake up her roommate, and opened the closet.

A small creak was heard and Alice froze as Jessica stirred. Just as Alice thought it was game over and Jessica was going to wake up, the girl turned on her side and gave a soft snore. Alice let out a relieved breath and plucked up her packed rucksack before closing the wardrobe again.

Holding her breath, Alice bent down to Jessica's bedside table and picked up her mobile. A guilty feeling wormed its way into her stomach as she did so, but it was the only way as she didn't have a phone herself. She placed the Nokia into her pocket and consoled herself by thinking, _it is only a cheap phone, she will probably get a newer, better one now. Yeah, I am doing her a favour._

Alice walked lightly on the balls of her feet over to the door and cracked it open. The light from the landing bulb flooded in and Jessica moaned in her sleep from the change in the dark room. Alice hastily squeezed out and closed it behind her.

Phase one, complete.

Phase two, initiate.

Alice's bedroom was thankfully on the second storey, meaning she only had to go down one flight of stairs before running out of the door.

The girl shuffled past the bedrooms, holding her backpack tightly so that it didn't knock over any of the ornaments precariously perched on the randomly placed end tables and wake anybody up. She made it down the stairs and couldn't believe her luck when she remembered about the dodgy floorboard. She had completely forgotten about it but she must have missed it by a fraction. Fate seemed to be working on her side. Or so she thought.

Just as Alice reached the front door, she saw a shadow coming further and further up the garden path through the frosted window to the side of the doorway. Her eyes widened as she realised that it was the social worker back early. Alice dived into the shoe closet just as the handle jutted down. She kept the cupboard door open a crack to watch.

Mrs Andrews barrelled into the hallway, sopping wet, and muttering a string of curses under her breath.

"Damn rain. All I wanted was a fag while the brats were sleeping but- oh no! I can't have that, can I?" she murmured as she wrestled her soaking heels off.

Alice felt sickness sink into her gut as she realised what was going to happen. She barely had time to scamper to the very back of the dark cupboard and hide in the coats hanging up before the door opened fully and a pair of leather high heels came flying towards her head.

Alice let out a small squeak of pain before clapping a hand over her mouth as the heel collided with her head. She didn't dare move, she didn't dare speak, she didn't dare breathe. Mrs Andrews looked in curiously at the noise, but was distracted by a wet droplet from her hair sliding down her back.

"Argh! Oh I hate this country! I am moving to Australia!"

Alice didn't care where the old bag moved, as long as it was far away from her. Mercifully, the social worker pulled off her soaking coat and threw it in to join her shoes before shutting the door and marching up the stairs to her bedroom.

Alice waited until the slam of Mrs Andrews's door was heard before shrugging off the coat and sneaking out of the cupboard. She put her hand to her head and gently probed the throbbing site of impact. Alice winced and drew her fingers back to see a tiny sheen of blood coating them.

_Just, great._

Ignoring her injury for now, Alice continued to the front door. She had seen people pick locks all the time on the television, how hard could it be? After pulling a bobby pin out of her hair and wiggling it nine billion different ways, Alice reached the conclusion that it could be very hard. Finally, just as she was about to give up and smash the door down, the lock clicked and the door swung open.

"Yes," she whispered, a grin coming to her lips.

She edged out around the door and closed it. Her boot clipped on the cobbles on the drive way, so she pulled them off and put them in her rucksack.

Her bare feet were cool and smooth against the ground and she knew that she should enjoy it while it lasted because she would be walking on the gravel soon, which definitely wouldn't be as pleasurable. But she couldn't risk anyone looking out of the window to see who as clip-clopping past their house at such a late hour. If anyone saw her, she might as well hand herself in now and take her punishment with a bowed head.

Alice hurried around up the pavement, trying to put as much distance between the care home and herself as possible. She tried to ignore the sharp pain in her exposed feet as she fished out the stolen Nokia. She ducked into an alleyway and leaned against the wall. Her fingers shook slightly as she typed in the number that she had rehearsed over and over in her head but hadn't been allowed to write down under strict orders. Something about it falling into the wrong hands. Well, the _police's _hands.

She typed in the number and clicked the green call button. The tone dialled.

Alice's foot tapped anxiously.

_"Hello?" _a deep, Scottish accented voice answered.

"Hello," Alice replied uncertainly, she didn't know what to say.

_"Who are you calling for?"_

Alice's heart skipped, she knew the answer to that, "Mr Sykes."

_"And what business do you have speaking with Mr Sykes?"_

"I want to show him what I have to offer."

Alice felt like a spy in a thriller movie, talking in code. But she couldn't allow herself to get wrapped up in a fantasy. She was playing more than just a part now. She was playing for her life.

_"What is your name?"_

"Jane Doe."

There was a small pause, in which Alice held her breath and clutched the Nokia with such force that she felt sure that it would crumble. Static crackled through the line. Finally, a different voice spoke.

_"You've got through to Avaritia. What is your name?" _

Alice contained the relieved sigh – things weren't over yet, "Uh, my name is Alice Lockwood and I-"

_"Wait. I am putting you through to Byron."_

The line filled with static again and Alice bit down on the side of cheek. There was no way back now. A metallic taste filled her mouth.

_"Ah, Miss Lockwood. I see you have changed your mind about our services," _Byron's taunting voice was thick with mockery.

"When can I get to you?" Alice asked, willing her voice not to crack.

_"Are you in still in Glasgow?"_

"Yes."

_"Then we will see you in ten minutes, Alice."_

Alice frowned, "W-what? You don't know where I am in Glasgow. It's a big city, you know."

She bit her tongue. That sounded snarky. That definitely sounded snarky. No-one got snarky with Boss Byron.

_"I don't appreciate your tone," _his voice was laced with ice.

"I'm sorry," Alice apologised hastily.

_"Hm, just remember that it is you that needs us, not the other way around. We can trace your call using a system from one of our former clients. Just stand still, keep your mouth shut, and be a good girl until we arrive."_

The line went dead.

Alice lowered the Nokia and stared at its blank screen. They knew where she was from this? She suddenly felt as if the phone was looking at her. It wasn't her face dully reflected in the plastic, it was Byron's. Or rather, Byron's henchman (Byron didn't like to get his hands dirty when clients didn't cough up).

Avaritia was certainly a force not to be confronted.

Alice slid down the wall and put her backpack underneath her knees to keep it safe from the drizzle that had begun to seep from the night sky as she sat. She kept shooting nervous glances at the entrance to the alleyway, each time expecting a looming figure to be stood there. She jumped at every stray cat clattering the bins, every cab driving drunken folk home, and every fizz of the overhead power lines.

Until the sound that she had been waiting for reached her ears. The wheezing sound of a car pulling up and the doors being opened. Alice scrambled to her feet and hid her backpack behind the skip next to her, just in case they felt the need to take something as insurance.

A shadow was cast at the alleyway as three bulky men came towards the sixteen year-old trying to be brave against the voice that was screaming inside her mind for her to run. She had to be collected.

"Alice Lockwood?" the man in the middle asked in a gruff voice.

Alice nodded.

The one on the right walked forward as the other two guarded the exit. The man came up to her and Alice got a good look of his face.

His hair was unruly and greasy, shaved on one side and left to grow wildly on the other. His eyes were small and beady, and held a coldness that could only belong to a worker of Avaritia. A long pink scar marred the left hand side of his face and disfigured his eye socket. Something told Alice that the person whose handiwork that was had come off worse, looking at the bulging muscles threatening to burst the seams of the man's leather jacket. Alice could practically smell the steroids on him.

"You understand what it means to be part of this deal?" he confirmed.

Alice, once again, nodded. She was too afraid that if she spoke, she would betray her true terror. Rule one; you can never _ever_ let them see you cry.

"And you know that once you take this, there is no way of backing out? And you know not to tell anyone your full name until you pay us back?"

Alice nodded, thinking the latter was a little strange but keeping her mouth shut.

The man then stared down at her for a long moment as if judging if she was worth giving the goods to, or just better being killed right there. Thankfully, he inclined his head and chose the former. He snapped his fingers (Alice noting that his pinkie and ring finger were missing) and one of the other men brought forward a plastic bag.

Alice watched carefully as they exchanged hands and kept her eye trained on the bag. She held out her hand and felt it drop into her palm. She opened it slightly and saw in the dingy light, the outline of bundles of banknotes.

"How much is in here?" Alice asked, taking even herself by surprise at how steady her voice was.

"Two hundred straight."

Alice suddenly felt a rush that had nothing to do with the burly men in front of her. She had never even seen this much money before, never mind held it. It made her (as much as she loathed herself to admit it) feel _powerful_.

The feeling was short-lived however, when the man fixed his terrifying gaze on her once more.

"Where is your stuff?" he questioned.

"Back at the care home. I couldn't risk being found packing," Alice lied, trying to ignore the faint feeling coming over her. She had just lied to the face of Avaritia.

The man nodded, taking her word for it and turned to walk away. Just as Alice thought she had gotten away with it, the man spun back on his heel and his hand connected with Alice's face with a sharp slap.

Alice cried out as she was flung sideways by the force. She used the wall to steady herself. Her eyes widened as the man came closer, so that their noses were touching. His breath was hot and putrid on her face. His teeth were bared as he grasped a handful of Alice's hair and yanked.

"Stop!" Alice whimpered.

"Now, where. Is. Your. Stuff?" he demanded, putting deliberate emphasis on each word and spitting on every syllable.

Alice's eyes darted over to the hiding place of her rucksack.

"Skip… skip," she panted breathily.

She groaned as the pressure on her hair was lifted and the man walked over to the skip. He reached his hand behind it and retrieved Alice's denim rucksack. He pulled it open and rifled through the contents.

"Isn't this nice?" he drew out the small silver watch that Alice had saved up to buy for months last year, "We will take this as financial insurance and…"

Alice's eyes prickled horribly as he hauled out a mother's day card. The one she had made for her mother the year she had been taken away. The one she never got to give.

"… I think this for sentimental insurance."

The man leered evilly and pocketed her treasures. He walked back over to her and grabbed her face roughly, digging his fingers into her cheek. Alice felt blood begin to coagulate in her mouth.

"You will think twice about lying to us again. I am a two strikes kind of guy. That was your first strike. The next…" he drew a thin line with his index finger on his free hand across her neck.

Alice closed her eyes. She could feel the blood pumping in her ears and wanted nothing more than to just run.

"See you very soon, Alice Lockwood."

He released her face and retreated back to the car on the roadside with his two goons. The screech of tires pierced the air, and they were gone.

Alice stood there, shock keeping her still. The bag of money was heavy in her grasp. Her bag lay abused in the middle of the alley. Alice didn't move to get it. She just stood and breathed as the drizzle turned into rain.

**Was that okay?**

**Thank you for reading,**

**Please Review,**

**Abby**

**X**


	2. The Hotel

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or anything related to the show. All rights go to the BBC. I own Alice :)**

**Author's Note: Hey! I hope you are all well and having a nice day,**

**Enjoy:**

_Previously:_

_"See you very soon, Alice Lockwood."_

_He released her face and retreated back to the car on the roadside with his two goons. The screech of tires pierced the air, and they were gone._

_Alice stood there, shock keeping her still. The bag of money was heavy in her grasp. Her bag lay abused in the middle of the alley. Alice didn't move to get it. She just stood and breathed as the drizzle turned into rain._

By the time Alice came back to her senses, she was soaked through. Her clothes stuck close to her skin and her hair was knotted in straggly threads down her back. She shivered against the cold, a reminder that she needed to get to shelter if she didn't want to end up getting sick.

Alice looked down once more at the money and stuffed it immediately into her coat pocket. It just occurred to her that she was a sixteen year-old girl in a darkened alleyway in the middle of the night holding two hundred pounds in her hand; not many stories with _that _beginning ended well.

She picked up her equally soaking bag and walked hesitantly out onto the pavement. She didn't know why, but she expected Avaritia to be standing outside with a rifle to her head. She hadn't done anything to upset them yet, so they wouldn't come near here until the money was due to be paid back. The words that stuck out for Alice in that sentence were _yet _and_ due to be paid._ It was a terrifying thought.

Of course, there were no Avaritia workers waiting for her, so she walked to the curb and held her hand out for a cab. Luckily, one pulled over. Not so luckily, he wasn't showing any signs of letting her in.

"You can't get in my cab like that, you look like a drowned rat!" the cabbie burst out as Alice attempted to climb into the back.

"Oh please, just to a hotel, please," Alice begged.

"I don't care if it is just to the next lamppost; you are not getting in my cab."

"I will pay you extra."

He shook his head.

"I will pay you _double_," Alice corrected.

He looked a little more tempted but still shook his head.

"Okay, fine. I will pay you _triple!"_

The driver's face took on a greedy mask and he finally conceded, too desirous to say no.

"Thank you," Alice thanked him sincerely as she sidled in and placed her bag between her legs.

The driver grunted in response and pressed down the pedal so he could get Alice out and get his money as quickly as possible.

"As soon as we get to a hotel mind, you are out," the cabbie warned as he pulled off the curb.

"That's all I'm asking for," Alice smiled politely.

She leaned back in the seat. She couldn't wait to get to a hotel, take off her clothes and have a nice warm shower. Of course, she would only be there for a few days until she got down to London. That is where she needed to be. Where she _had_ to be.

"Here," the cabbie rumbled, pulling the cab to a stop.

Alice looked out of the window and saw a large building with _Travelodge _written over the front of it in enormous letters.

"Oh, thank you!" Alice beamed as she unbuckled her seatbelt and gathered up her bag, "How much do I owe you?"

"Uh… well… triple… that will be thirty pounds, please."

Alice's jaw dropped, "What?! I have only been in the car five minutes at most! How much do you charge?!"

"I don't think you are really in the position to argue with me."

"Well I am not paying that," Alice stated firmly as she reached for the door handle.

However, as soon as her hand curled around it, the lock clicked down on the door. Alice turned and glared at the driver through the mirror.

"And just for that, an extra twenty pounds," the cabbie smirked.

"This is ridiculous! You can't charge me this!"

"And what are you going to do? Ring the police? I bet they would be very interested to know what a teenage girl is doing alone on the streets at night checking into any hotel she can find."

The cabbie had hit gold and he knew it.

Alice scowled and rummaged in her pocket. She counted out the appropriate money and – considering it was all in twenty pound notes – had to give him sixty. She handed it over with a violent jerk, expressing her anger.

What added fuel to her fire even more, was when the cabbie took the money and made no attempt to count out change, despite Alice's expectant hand outstretched next to his head.

"Erm, a tenner back, please," Alice prompted.

The cabbie looked back casually and shook his head.

"Run along."

The locked popped back down on the door and Alice got out. She slammed the door roughly and crouched next to the driver's rolled down window.

"I have just given you sixty pounds for a trip worth five. You better keep your mouth shut," Alice hissed, trying to make herself as threatening as possible.

The cabbie nodded and dismounted the curb, driving away once again.

Alice glared after it before walking up to the hotel's steps. She took them two at a time and opened the door. It didn't seem too grand, which fitted her perfectly. Alice walked through the check in area and looked around the room awkwardly while someone was talking at the desk.

The room was furnished scarlet, with gold drapery and pillows. There were three long sofas arranged in a circle around a low set coffee table, each with plump gold coloured cushions. One sofa was occupied by a middle aged man and his son. The man was sat reading his newspaper while his son was sleeping on his lap.

Alice concentrated on the newspaper. Maybe in a few days, instead of the picture of the missing golden watch, Alice's own face would be printed there. She could imagine it- TEENAGE GIRL GOES MISSING FROM CAREHOME followed by the most unattractive mugshot that the social worker could have ever taken. That was when she really needed to be careful. When there was a public appeal, nowhere was safe.

"Um Miss?" a voice asked.

Alice snapped from her thoughts and walked forward to the now available concierge.

"Hi. I was wondering if there were any spare rooms available. Any will do, I haven't booked so…"

"I will have a look for you now," the man smiled and turned to his computer screen.

He tapped a few keys and looked back up at Alice.

"Yes, room twenty four is available. Is that okay?"

"Perfect!" she exclaimed, only to be shushed by the man being slept on by his son. Alice sent him a quiet apology.

"I just need to see proof that you are over eighteen," the concierge said pleasantly.

Alice felt a bolt of dread shoot through her as she reached into her pocket. _Please don't have forgotten, please don't have forgotten,_ _please don't have forgotten_. The bag crackled as her hand wormed its way in. Alice let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding as her finger brushed against something laminate, not a bank note. She pulled it out and handed it over to the Concierge.

He nodded at it and handed her it back. Avaritia always gave out fake IDs to their customers under eighteen, and it is a bloody good job they did.

The nice concierge handed over a silver key with a tag saying twenty four in green writing.

"Enjoy your stay," he smiled.

Alice nodded her thanks and proceeded to the stairs. The room was on the first floor and didn't take long to find at all. Once she did, Alice slotted the key into the hole and pushed hard against the door like you have to in all hotels.

The girl stepped in and flicked on the light switch. The bulb flickered into life and cast a soft orange glow around the room. The room itself had the basics. A double bed with a pristine white duvet and pillows lay in the middle of the back wall, between two corner tables with lamps on. A desk laid opposite, on which a small box television sat. The wardrobe was small but Alice hardly had any clothes at all so that didn't matter. A door to the left led into a small bathroom.

Alice threw her bag down on the floor and walked into the bathroom. She then smiled as she peeled off her wringing wet clothes and threw them down on the floor, where they landed with a splodge.

Before getting into the shower, Alice looked at her reflection and pulled back her blonde fringe. There, was a bloody gash from where the heel of the shoe had hit her back in the care home. To Alice, that seemed ages ago when it was only in fact a couple of hours. Thankfully, the gash was covered by Alice's hair and would only need a plaster if she had time to get one. The side of her face was stinging red but would no doubt die down soon enough.

Satisfied somewhat that her appearance wasn't likely to cause any alarm, Alice turned the dial on the shower to hot and slipped under.

A sigh escaped her lips. The warm water rolled over the goosebumps on her skin and caressed them with warmth. A pleasant shiver ran down Alice's spine as she turned her back and let the water soothe away the tenseness in her muscles. She then let her hair be immersed in shampoo and lathered conditioner on just for the sake of a bit of luxury. After all, they were the hotel's. Alice watched as a bead of blood ran down in the water heading for the drain and she was aware of the dull ache now in her head. Perhaps that was enough heat.

Turning the dial to _off_, Alice stepped out and dried herself with one of the towels. She wrapped one around her hair and was about to wrap the other around her body when her eyes fell upon a fluffy white dressing gown hanging from the radiator. Alice reached for it greedily and slipped her arms in, revelling in its softness.

She hugged the gown around herself and peeled back the covers of the bed. She slipped her aching feet under the duvet and was sleeping before her head even hit the pillow.

* * *

Alice awoke to the fantastic feeling of rays of sun landing on her face. She yawned and stretched in the bed, feeling the most refreshed she had been in a long time. To think, not even twenty four hours ago, she had been running for her life in the pouring rain, and had a meeting with Avaritia. To think just yesterday, she had yet begun her adventure. No, that wasn't the right word. Mission, that was it.

Since she had gone to bed very late, it was now mid-morning. The breakfasts would have stopped being served so a hunger driven Alice climbed into her spare pair of jeans and pulled on a t-shirt. She hung her still-wet clothes out to dry over the sink.

She brushed her hair so it fell into her usual ringlets and made sure to cover her injury with her fringe.

Walking out of the hotel, Alice was straight into the town. She had to make a straight, quick route to the bakery over the road as she wasn't as far away from the care home as she would have liked. Still, it was a place to go, and her fake ID said that she was called Sandy Barber if anyone made enquires at the hotel. As long as she stayed out of the papers, she was safe at the hotel.

She made a bolt for the café and bought a fresh tea and a sausage roll to take back to her room. It was too risky to be out in the open.

Once back in the hotel, Alice ate her beverage and food, and took out the stolen Nokia. Hopefully, her old roommate wouldn't be too heartbroken about it.

Alice punched in the second number (after Avaritia) that she had memorised. She pressed the call button and held the receiver to her ear.

_"Hello, Glasgow rail ticket office," _a female voice answered with a strong Glaswegian accent.

"Hello. I am wondering if I could book a ticket for Glasgow to London, please. Could I reserve one and pay when I get there?" Alice asked.

_"Of course. What day would you be travelling on?"_

"Tomorrow."

_"Okay, and would you be purchasing a return ticket?"_

Alice swallowed as she said, "No."

_"That is no problem at all. Your ticket is reserved and you will be given it at the time of the payment of fifty pounds. Have a nice day."_

"You too," Alice replied politely, putting down the phone.

Fifty pounds was steep but it was bank holiday and prices were soaring. Plus Glasgow to London was quite a trek.

She wasn't worried about paying Avaritia back, however. Once she was back in London, her mother would help her out. They could be a family again. Alice just had to find her mum's new address and her life could be sewn back together.

**HUGE thank you to: D0ct0rwh0l0ckf4n and DonnaWatson for reviewing. Replies will be sent to you in the next few minutes.**

**Thanks for reading,**

**Please review,**

**Abby**

**X**


	3. London

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or anything related to the show. All rights go to the BBC. I own Alice.**

**Author's Note: Sorry for not writing this week but my exams have been torture.**

**Enjoy:**

_Previously:_

_Fifty pounds was steep but it was bank holiday and prices were soaring. Plus Glasgow to London was quite a trek._

_She wasn't worried about paying Avaritia back, however. Once she was back in London, her mother would help her out. They could be a family again. Alice just had to find her mum's new address and her life could be sewn back together._

Alice woke promptly at six o'clock the following morning. _The _morning. As soon as her eyelids fluttered open, a bubble of excitement rose in her chest. And a hint of something else… fear? No. Well- maybe. Just a smidge. After all, this was the crucial make or break point. If she got this right, her life would finally be back on track.

She smiled. Throwing the covers back and slipping into her clothes, Alice took one last sweep over the room to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. Her backpack, with the money securely stored in the zipped compartment on the inside, was strapped tightly around her chest.

"Well, you have been a good room for the night," Alice declared to the open space before proceeding to check out at the desk.

"You are up early," the concierge commented as he rifled through the appropriate documents. "Are you going anywhere nice, Sandy?"

"Hmm?" Alice frowned, but remembered the fake ID, "Oh yeah. Sorry, miles away," she giggled to cover her mistake, "I am catching a train. Just to Yorkshire, you know. Have a look at the dales and… sheep… and…stuff."

_Stop talking, Alice!_

The concierge nodded and handed her a receipt, "Have a nice time."

Alice smiled and shoved the receipt unlovingly into her bag. She made her way to the revolving doors and stood out on the pavement, breathing in the morning air. It was still dark, considering that it was only January and very early.

Thankfully, cabs worked all hours of the day and night and so, when one came trundling by, Alice stuck out her hand and climbed in the back.

"Where to, Miss?"

"The station, please," the girl answered as she settled herself into the backseat.

"No problem. That'll be a fiver."

At least this cabbie had some manners unlike the one the night she had ran away.

Ran away. It sounded so… romantic? Running off into the unknown with her entire life ahead of her, waiting to be reunited with her mother and live happily ever after. It sounded far much too like a fairy tale for Alice's liking. She knew first hand that life was rarely that hitch-free. Something would happen. It had to. Either she couldn't find her mother, or Avaritia would want their money back early, or someone would recognise her, or her mother wouldn't be able to support the two of them… that was if she even wanted her daughter when she got there.

Alice shook her head. She couldn't think like that. Her motto was to only worry about things that she could control, though she rarely ever stuck to it. Still, the only thing that she could control at the moment, was the money. Careful to keep it still in the bag and out of sight of the driver, Alice began to count how much was left.

Sixty had been taken by the greedy cabbie, ten for this cabby, twenty from the hotel, and two-fifty for her lunch. All in all, one-hundred-and-seven-pounds-fifty was left from the two hundred pounds originally given. The train would take another fifty pounds- so fifty seven pounds fifty would be left. Somehow she would gather the one hundred and forty two pounds fifty to pay Avaritia back.

As long as she didn't spend any more money, she would be fine.

The cab rolled to a stop and Alice climbed out, sending a hasty thank you the driver's way. He nodded his acknowledgement and drove away.

Alice hopped up the concrete steps outside the station and approached the ticket office.

"Hello, I'm Sandy Barber," Alice began, thanking God that she remembered the alias she had used, "and I reserved my ticket over the phone yesterday."

"Oh, of course! I remember," the woman bent down and plucked a receipt from her cupboard, "One way to London?"

"Yep."

"Okay, that is… fifty pounds, please."

Alice handed the money over quickly, having stuffed it in her pocket separately from the rest so as not to arouse suspicion.

"Excellent. Here's your ticket and enjoy your journey."

Alice took the ticket and practically bounced onto the platform.

Chaotic noises filled the inside: the quick paced footsteps of travellers searching for their train even at this time, and the frantic voice of the public address system alerting people where to go. Amongst the myriad of busy-bodies, stood Alice nervously chewing the side of her thumb.

To the right of the teen, slumped against an out of date dull red phone box, sat a sleepy beggar who smelled like a repulsive concoction of alcohol and vomit. Grasping his cup in a weak grip, the man pleaded for spare change from passers-by, speech slurred.

Alice shuffled further away from the man.

The sharp shrill of a whistle sliced through the chaos like a knife and soon everyone was huddling around the edge of the platform, fighting for a place on the train.

Alice hugged her bag close to her protectively and dived into the huddle. Her small height gave her an advantage so that she could just weave between people and duck and dive without really being noticed. Finally, she broke through the crowds and scurried to one of the spare compartments that no-one had occupied.

She slipped into her seat and let out a sigh of relief as the train began to move again, backwards out of the station. The smooth, rhythmic movement of the train was incredibly soothing and the soft tap-tap-tap-tap of the wheels over the track was almost like a lullaby.

Alice felt her eyelids grow heavy and she didn't resist. It had been a stressful few days and she would need her full strength when she arrived in London.

* * *

Alice woke again as the train pulled to a stop at Paddington Station. However, as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw someone staring back at her.

She jumped and cried out in surprise, holding a hand to her heart.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! It's just there were no more seats left and this one had space and-" the man sat opposite her rambled.

"No, it is fine. You just gave me a fright, that's all," Alice panted, trying to restore her normal heart rate.

She supposed the whole deal with Avaritia had her on edge to start with, never mind waking up to see strangers watching you sleep.

"Are you getting off here?" the man asked, no doubt resorting to small talk to hide his embarrassment.

"Oh, yeah."

Alice stood up and threw her back pack over her shoulder, "Are you?"

"No. I'm on for one more stop," the man said.

Alice nodded and proceeded to the carriage door, "Well… enjoy whatever you're doing in London," she smiled awkwardly and scampered off the train as soon as possible.

Her foot touched the platform and Alice was filled with the immediate sense of home. She was home. London was her blood, it ran in her heart. It felt amazing to be back a part of it.

As the train carried on to the next station, the stranger in the compartment waved goofily at Alice as it swept past.

Alice shook her head, but forgot about him as she walked out onto the street. She felt so alive! So free!

She smelled every dodgy hotdog stand on the corner of the street, ready to bolt should the food standards authority figures come knocking, every extra strong coffee from the shop over the road to get people through the day, every flash of vivid scarlet as the buses swept past. Everything.

And, as she gazed around her birthplace with beautiful nostalgia, her eyes rested on a damp _Yellow Pages_ book in a yellow plastic wrapper propped up against side door of the block of flats to her left. She walked over and knelt down to pick it up.

Alice grinned. This was exactly what she was looking for. She shoved it into her backpack and tied the strings of the pack back together to avoid losing anything – that would be disastrous.

Stuffing her hands in her pocket, Alice walked to the nearest bench and sat down. She pulled the cellophane off the Yellow Pages and began to flick through the book.

"Lockwood, Lockwood, Lockwood," Alice chanted quietly as she searched under 'L'.

Finally, her finger traced down and landed on exactly what she was looking for.

_Jenna Lockwood._

Her mother's name.

Alice's face split into a smile as she greedily read down to the address.

_9 Mayfield Court._

Alice caught someone walking past's arm gently. They turned.

"Sorry, do you know where Mayfield Court is?" she asked politely.

"Uh… Mayfield is about five minutes' walk from here. You just have to carry on down the street and turn left at the junction," the man replied and carried on his business.

Alice nodded her thanks and gathered up her book. Only five minutes! Doing as she was instructed, Alice walked down the path and turned left into a run-down looking council estate.

Windows were cracked and smothered in graffiti and the whole place smelt like a revolting mixture of alcohol, drugs, and smoke. Alice cringed at the thought of her mother living in a place like this.

_The first thing we are going to do is buy a proper house somewhere. Maybe in the countryside with loads of fields and a nice village. And we could have our own garden and grow our own food to make ourselves. We would have no takeaways, just real home cooked food. Then we could sit down by the fire and watch telly until we fall asleep together. I could go to a nice school and then come home to Mum singing Frank Sinatra songs while doing the housework, _Alice fantasised, purely to take her mind somewhere other than the disgusting place her feet were taking her through.

_Fly me to the moon, and let me play among the stars! Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars! _

Snapping out of her perfect daydream, Alice looked over and began to pay attention to the house numbers. It wasn't long at all until she reached number nine.

Alice frowned. The house looked empty. The lawn was wild and untamed with dandelions growing like the plague across the path and the entire grass area. The grass was thigh-high with nettles and thistles laying in waiting beneath it. The windows were covered with newspaper and were thick with mould and bird droppings.

"What're ye doing 'ere?" a rough sounding voice demanded.

Alice spun around to the source of the voice and saw an equally rough face to match it. The short, squat man reminded her of a bulldog with rabies.

"Oh, sorry. I was just looking for Jenna Lockwood. Do you know if she is in?" Alice asked hopefully.

"Nah. Lockwood moved ou' a while ago. 'Bout three months, I'd say."

Alice felt the hopeful balloon in her chest deflate rapidly, along with her plans.

"Do you know where she has gone?"

"Cornwall, she said."

The girl perked up slightly, "Are you sure?"

The ruddy man looked affronted, "Of course I'm sure! Do I look senile to ye?"

Alice shook her head immediately and thanked him before turning and getting out of the dodgy neighbourhood as soon as possible.

**Thanks for reading :)**

**Please Review,**

**Abby**

**X**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or anything related to the show. All rights go to the BBC. I own Alice.**

**Author's Note: So sorry for the long wait for me to update! My internet was playing up and I have another two stories which kind of took over so I am very sorry about that.**

_Previously:_

_"Do you know where she has gone?" _

_"Cornwall, she said."_

_The girl perked up slightly, "Are you sure?"_

_The ruddy man looked affronted, "Of course I'm sure! Do I look senile to ye?" _

_Alice shook her head immediately and thanked him before turning and getting out of the dodgy neighbourhood as soon as possible._

Alice resurfaced on the high street once more. She wrapped her arms closer about herself as a cold chill seeped through her thin coat. The train ride from Glasgow must have been longer than she thought as the clouds began to acquire a dark tinge to them.

"Hotel it is, then," she mumbled.

It seemed that hotels where getting the better half of Alice's Avaritia fund.

She walked up the concrete steps of a convenient hotel to the right of her. It was small and poky but would definitely do the night. And though she was secretly hoping for the luxury of the previous hotel, she was content knowing that she was going to be out of the good old English rain that was about to pour. Not to mention the dark.

"Can I help, Miss?" a kind elderly woman behind the counter asked.

Alice smiled back at her politely, "Hello, I am just wondering if you have any rooms spare. I know that it is short notice and all but-"

"Not to worry, dear! Half the rooms are empty and the other half's occupants are just here out of pity, I reckon. Yeah, this whole place is going down the swanny," the woman sighed sadly.

"Well, I am sure that things will pick up in the summer," Alice encouraged, feeling more than a little sorry for the forlorn looking woman.

"We can hope, eh? Anyway, room for one, is it?"

Alice nodded.

"Okay, that will be fifteen pounds, please."

Alice marvelled at the cheap price and dipped her hand into her pocket where she had kept fifteen pounds of the total money in case she needed to reach it quickly without the danger of showing anyone the sack of notes.

"Here you go," Alice chirped as she handed over the appropriate money and took the key from the woman's outstretched hand.

"Have a nice stay," the kind woman smiled.

Alice walked up the stairs. The floors were carpeted in an old, ugly pattern of vines and flowers. The edge of the steps were worn and the floorboards creaky. The paint job was better, however. Alice deduced that it had recently been painted from the faded - but nonetheless present - smell of chemicals.

Her room was number five.

The room itself was rather cosy and homely. It wasn't sparsely furnished like other hotel rooms; it was full of ornaments and freshly plumped pillows. It could easily have belonged in somebody's house.

Alice placed her bag on the desk and sank into the armchair next to it. She was now one step closer to finding her mother. One step closer to the dream that she had been planning for almost a year now.

Deciding that it was time again to manage her finances, the girl pulled the rucksack toward her and placed it down on her knee. She pulled open the toggle and peered inside for the money.

But it wasn't there.

Alice frowned and shuffled her hand amongst the small amount of possessions in the bag. How could you lose a large sack of money in such a small bag?

Her heart beginning to hammer against her chest unpleasantly as she took her other items out, praying that she would find the money lurking at the bottom.

But it wasn't.

Bile rose in Alice's throat as she tipped the bag upside down, the contents spilling over the floor. There was no money in sight.

"No…no, no, no, no," she moaned in despair.

How?! How could this have happened!? No- that wasn't the problem, the problem was what she was going to do about Avaritia when they wanted their money back.

And by luck's horrid ballot, the Nokia phone suddenly began to vibrate from its position on the carpet. Alice looked over to it halfheartedly and felt a bolt of fear run through her.

_Incoming call: Blocked._

But Alice knew. She knew all too well. And she knew that if she answered the call, she was dead. So she let it ring. She watched with wide eyes at every vibration, every flash of the LEDs on the screen.

Finally it stopped. So, it seemed, did everything. The absence of the ringing had sucked every other noise around Alice. It was as if she was in a vacuum. The noise of the silence was deafening, until another short vibration. A text.

_Change of plans. We need the money back today. London looks so pretty at night._

_-A_

Alice closed her eyes. The tracking device in her phone, of course. They had tracked her all the way from Glasgow. She had been so stupid. And it would cost her her life.

She couldn't go to her mother's now even if she had the money for the train fare. She couldn't put her mother in danger like that. When Avaritia caught up with her, they would find out that she lost the money and would definitely kill her. No doubt about that.

That meant that she had to get out of the B&amp;B because when Avaritia came after her, they would have no second thoughts about killing whoever was in their way. Even that innocent old woman at the reception.

"No," Alice whispered fiercely to herself, she couldn't let that happen.

She jumped to her feet.

"First things first."

Scooping up the phone from the floor, she proceeded to the en suite. She filled the sink with cold water and submerged the Nokia. It bubbled at fizzed but eventually quietened, the screen going black.

All Avaritia knew now was that she was in London. Ideally, she would have hopped on a train and got as far away from the city as possible, but there were two problems with that plan.

1\. She had no money to use any form of transport.

2\. She had to avoid CCTV cameras. (Avaritia had operatives everywhere, including inside the government).

So there was really only one option, the streets. That was the only place where she could duck into alleys to avoid the cameras, not have to pay any money, and no one could be murdered for harbouring her.

She quickly packed everything back into her rucksack (regretting tipping them out in the first place) and rushed down the stairs. The kind woman had disappeared, most likely to make herself a cup of tea, giving Alice the perfect opportunity to make a bolt for it.

Making sure that her hood was covering as much of her face as possible, Alice stepped out into the driving rain and began a brisk jog down the pavement. The objective was to get as far away from the B&amp;B as possible while the rain and fog provided temporary cover from prying eyes.

Since the hood only belonged to a jumper, it was in no way waterproof. In no less than two minutes, the whole of the fabric was soaked through. It clung to Alice's skin, droplets falling down her back like little shards of ice.

Her skinny legs were beginning to tire after three miles and the rain was beginning to cease. Now was the time to find cover.

That, however, was easier said than done. It was fully nighttime now and pitch black. She didn't even have the benefit of street lights because she had to keep off the beaten track and wander in farmer's fields and country roads where there was no chance of being spotted on cameras.

As Alice squinted forward through her droplet covered eyelashes, she spotted a small light. Not from a house, but from what seemed to be the middle of a field. Hoping that it was a bonfire that a farmer had left smouldering, Alice took flight in that direction.

However, as she got closer, she realised that it was a stone bridge, protected by bracken and overgrown weeds. And between those weeds was the light from the fire. Just like a moth, Alice blindly stumbled through the foliage to reach the flame.

The thorns sliced at her hands and the nettles stung her legs but she barely felt it. The cold had acted as a numbing agent and bizarrely, Alice was desperate to feel the pain. Not just the pain, anything. She just wanted to be warm again and actually have functioning nerve endings.

Finally, she fell forwards through the wall of plants and landed on a cobbled path. She groaned and raised her head to see a sight that she definitely was not expecting. Instead of the abandoned bonfire she had been hoping for, she looked up to see a collection of tattily dressed people huddled around a burning bin full of kindling.

A homeless site.

"Hello?" one man asked, turning to Alice from his position facing the fire.

"I-I'm sorry for i-intruding, sir," Alice stuttered from the cold.

The man's eyes softened as he saw her state and beckoned her over. She hesitantly made her way over to him, dodging sleeping bodies (at least she hoped they were sleeping) and skirting around rusty trollies.

She sat down next to the man and inspected his face.

He had a large, crooked nose and a broad jaw that was immersed in stubble and tufts of a beard that a sharp piece of glass couldn't erase. Alice couldn't tell if the man was tanned or the thick layer of grime has stained his skin. His teeth were yellow with black rims and his hair unkept. Despite all of the filth, Alice was mostly drawn to his eyes. They were soft brown, gentle. They held compassion and kindness that most well-off people did not possess.

"Those with the least, shine the brightest," Alice whispered under her breath.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing," Alice replied quickly, not wanting to offend the man.

The man nodded unconvincingly but looked quite amused, "My name is Frank Lowland."

He held out a muddy hand to which Alice fitted with her own.

"Alice Lo-" she suddenly stopped short. She had forgotten her alias!

"Uh… J-Jasmine," she fumbled.

The man rose an eyebrow and put a hand on Alice's knee, "We are all running from something, here. My fake name was Steven Gerrard. I didn't understand how famous he was, back then. It completely defeated the object of hiding."

Alice allowed herself a small giggle as warmed her hands near the flames, "Alice Lockwood. So how long have you been sleeping rough?"

"Five years," Frank replied nonchalantly as if it was nothing. He must have seen Alice's jaw drop for he added, "but I sofa surfed for a while. It wasn't like I was always outside. How about you?"

"Four days in the morning," Alice answered, blushing at being such a state after such a small amount of time.

"That is a long time for someone your age," Frank commented, seemingly reading her mind, "especially in this weather. What's happened then? Had a row with your folks? If you have, go home. Whatever you have has to be ten times better than out here."

Alice brought her hands back and slipped them around her knees to curl up, "I haven't had a row. I am trying to find my mum. She left me and… I need her now."

"You a care home runaway?" Frank guessed.

Alice nodded. There was a short pause.

"Divorce," Frank suddenly piped up.

Alice looked at him in confusion.

"Nasty divorce, that is why I am here," he elaborated. "My ex-wife took everything. We had four children together. The youngest I haven't even seen. She would have been born two months after I was kicked out. She will be five now…"

Frank looked away in a mixture of regret and nostalgia.

"I'm sorry," Alice murmured.

He shrugged.

"I would have thought a smart man like you would be able to get the long straw."

"Intelligence cannot buy good lawyers, I am afraid," Frank laughed softly.

Another silence fell. This time, however, it was a comfortable silence. Alice shuffled back until her back hit the curved wall and wrapped her jacket closer around herself.

But she couldn't get too comfortable. She knew in the morning she would have to move. Avaritia would find her if she stayed in one place too long.

And even though she was under a bridge out of the rain, surrounded by people, Alice Lockwood had never felt so alone.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading :)**

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

_Previously:_

_Another silence fell. This time, however, it was a comfortable silence. Alice shuffled back until her back hit the curved wall and wrapped her jacket closer around herself._

_But she couldn't get too comfortable. She knew in the morning she would have to move. Avaritia would find her if she stayed in one place too long._

_And even though she was under a bridge out of the rain, surrounded by people, Alice Lockwood had never felt so alone._

I could say that as Alice closed her eyes, she suddenly shot up in bed at the hotel, the money safely tucked away, and the whole ordeal had been a dream. But I would be lying. The truth is, Alice was still in the tunnel, the money was still missing, and she hadn't slept a wink. Every time her eyelids got heavy, she would get a flash of an image of the burly man from Avaritia that gave her the money, scouring the streets with a snarl on his face and a knife in his hand and she would jerk awake again.

So when the first glimmers of the morning sun crept through the clouds and into the tunnel, Alice was both pleased and a little terrified. Pleased because she would be able to hit the road again and try to find out where the money went, but terrified because it was now broad daylight and Alice no longer had the advantage of darkness.

Either way, she threw the rucksack over her shoulder and was at the mouth of the tunnel when a voice broke the serene morning silence.

"Off so soon, Jasmine?"

Alice turned to see Frank Lowland watching her from his tatty sleeping bag, his eyes bleary from sleep.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Alice apologised, heat rising to her cheeks.

"I am a light sleeper," Frank shrugged.

"Say, now that you are awake, do you think that you could tell me where the nearest phone box is?"

Frank scratched the stubble on his grubby chin in thought, "Uh… probably back the way you came in London."

"Aren't there any towns or villages around here?" Alice asked desperately. "I kind of need avoid London as much as I can."

"Well, there is a village a few miles up that twisty country road. It is very small and I can't recall the name but there might be one up there. It is very isolated and often gets cut off by the snow in winter so it makes sense for them to have a phone box there," Frank suggested helpfully.

Alice grinned, that sounded perfect for what she needed. Thanking Frank and wishing him well, she turned and weaved her way through the overgrowth at the mouth of the tunnel that she had battled through the previous night. It was much easier in the light than it had been in the dead of night, and Alice got through with a lot less scratches.

As Frank had told her, the girl climbed over a dry stone wall and landed on the dusty country road. The bottoms of her trousers were wringing with the early morning dew from the grass and the low sun was shining directly in her eyes, but she really didn't care. She just had to get to a phone box as soon as possible.

It took a maximum of two and a half hours to reach the tiny village – Chestnut Grove – but since Alice's pace was anything but leisurely, it only took an hour and fifteen minutes. When she did arrive, the first thing that she noticed was the crimson red phone box standing against a tall stone wall, shrouded in leaves and vines.

She jogged over with her head bowed still, and slipped into the box. Thankfully, she had some spare change in her pocket from when she had bought her breakfast the morning before she had caught the train to London. She slotted the silver coins into the machine and punched in the number for the train company.

It rang for a few seconds until a woman answered, "Hello, this is Coast to Coast train lines, Amber Kriss speaking. How can I help?"

"Hi, uh, I got a train yesterday morning and I have lost quite large sum of money. About one hundred and fifty pounds- ish. I was just wondering if anyone had reported anything," Alice replied, her nerves jangling.

"Can I ask what train you boarded and your name and age, please?"

"The six o'clock train from Glasgow to London. I can't remember what number it was. My name is Helena Carter and I am sixteen."

"Okay, I will just put you on hold for a moment to see my supervisor. He will know if anything has been handed in."

There was a shuffle – presumably Amber pressing the hold button – before tinny, elevator music floated through the receiver. Alice chewed on her lip, looking out of the glass window panes for anyone that may have noticed her.

The music lasted for another few minutes until it was shut off and the female voice returned.

"I am sorry for your wait there," Miss Kriss apologised sweetly.

"It's fine. So what has he said? Has someone found it?" Alice demanded impatiently.

"Unfortunately, no lost or unattended possessions have been reported. Since it is a considerable amount of money and no-one has seen anything, we must take into account the fact that it may have been stolen. Thanks to Coast to Coast's new anti-theft policy, the police have been notified and will look into the situation. Could I ask what carriage you were in for CCTV purposes?" she asked.

Alice's eyes widened in panic, "N-no, no, no need to get the police involved. In fact, I-I think I may have left the money at the hotel, yeah. Sorry for wasting your time."

"But the police are _already_ involved. They have asked if you could come to the station headquarters to discuss matters further."

"Seriously, it doesn't matter."

The receptionist's tone suddenly became suspicious, "You sound quite young to be carrying around such a large amount of money. The police are insisting you meet with them to discuss this."

Realisation dawned on Alice in that moment, Amber hadn't called the police to find who stole the money, she did it to find out how Alice had got it in the first place. She probably suspected that Alice had gotten the money through some illegalities. She wasn't half wrong.

"I really don't think-" Alice started shakily.

"It would be in your best interests to co-operate." The threat in her voice was exceedingly clear.

Thinking of nothing else to do, Alice slammed down the phone onto the cradle roughly. She took a few laboured breaths before thrusting her foot onto the machine in frustration, making a loud metallic bang. Dull pain blossomed over her toes but she ignored it.

With a moan, Alice slid down the side of the urine smelling box and rested her chin on her knees. She was finished. There was no way that she could get the money back, no money to get to Cornwall to her mother, no way to keep running from Avaritia, and now the police were involved.

_I am totally screwed. If the police find me first, I will be sent back to the care home and be made to confess to how I got the money. The Boss from Avaritia will then come after me for ratting on them and kill me. If Avaritia find me first, they will kill me when they find out that I can't pay them back. That is just how they work. __Either way, I am dead. I am going to die at fifteen. I never got to go to all of those places that I wanted to… I never got to go to America… or China or India. I never will be old enough to drink alcohol. I will never get married. I will never have a family. I will never have a life._

These were the thoughts that caused Alice's eyes to sting with salty tears. She forced them back and blinked rapidly to get rid of them. She was determined not to cry. Even if no-one else could see her, she refused to allow herself that weakness.

She raised her chin. Weakness. She hated the word. There was no way she was going to succumb to it. She had been through too much to give up now. Sucking in a sharp breath and pulling herself back up to her feet, she licked her lips in anticipation.

"I just need to make two hundred pounds. That will get Avaritia off my back," she muttered to herself, ignoring the little voice saying _'first sign of madness, talking to yourself!'_. She was way past that now.

Alice pushed against the door to the phone box and climbed out. Still taking measures such as keeping her hood up and out of plain sight, she made her way over to a small café across the village green.

_Seems like a good enough place to start._

A tinkling bell chimed as Alice opened the door to the café. Seeing that there were no CCTV cameras in the room, she deemed it safe enough to lower her hood. The café was small and cosy with a few circular wooden tables and ornaments perched around frosted glass windows. A dim fire crackled in the hearth to the left of the doorway. Despite its size, there were quite a few people in there; only two tables were free.

Walking slightly on her tiptoes and pushing her chest out a little to make her appear older, Alice walked up to the counter and rang the small bell. A rather stout woman with a ruddy face appeared in through the archway from the kitchens, a teatowel slung offhandedly over her shoulder.

"What do you want? Tea, coffee? We're all out of toasties if you want one," the woman grunted a little roughly.

"Actually, I was wondering if there was any chance that you were looking for a waitress. Or a chef, I mean, I can cook," Alice said, trying not to wince at the slight lie about her being able to cook. "Have you got any job vacancies?"

The woman – whose name badge Alice was able to read as _Sylvia – _looked the girl in front of her up and down with a crinkled forehead.

"Whatdya wanna work 'ere for? The wages are crap," Sylvia stated bluntly, scraping a hand over her running nose.

Alice was a little taken aback brusque reply but retained her composure, "My mum and dad want me to learn some responsibility so I can go on holiday with some of my friends," _lies, lies, lies_, "They said that if I can earn two hundred pounds, then I can go."

Ruddy-faced Sylvia suddenly made a sound somewhere between a snort and a bark, "You won't make two hundred smackers 'ere, kid. Go down to London with all the snobs, they'll pay you that for a promise not to spit on their shoes."

Alice felt a stab of anger at the woman's words, having been born and lived in London until she was nine. She wasn't a snob and neither was her mum! But realising that she really needed this job, Alice kept her cool. _Just. _

"Please just give me a chance."

Sylvia regarded her for a moment with pursed lips. She ran her tongue over her yellow teeth until she finally nodded, "Yeah, alright. Takes the pressure off me a bit. But break anything, kid, and I will break your legs. Got it?"

Alice nodded firmly trying not to let her happiness show on her face, "So how much am I paid per hour?"

"£3.72. Minimum wage for someone who is under eighteen which I presume you are."

Alice nodded, "I am sixteen."

"Right, well there is a pinny hanging up in the kitchens. Get that on and serve the drinks. Oh and don't hurt yourself. Well you can if you want but don't take it to court, I don't have insurance so that might make a bit of a problem," Sylvia grumbled and waddled over to the table near the front door.

Doing as she was told, Alice scooted past the counter and threw on the pinny. Whilst doing so, she did a rough calculation on how long it would take her to reach her target. 54 hours. Alice groaned, it was going to be a rough few days.

* * *

**Author's Note: So the money has been stolen tut tut, never fall asleep on trains.**

**HUGE thank you to **D0ct0rwh0l0ckf4n for reviewing, a reply shall be sent to you in the next minute or two :)****

****Thanks for reading,****

****Please review,****

****Abby****

****X****


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or anything related to the show. All rights go to the BBC. I own Alice :)**

**Author's Note: Sorry I haven't updated for a week or so, history exams are to blame *sigh*. **

**Enjoy:**

_Previously:_

_Alice nodded, "I am sixteen."_

_"Right, well there is a pinny hanging up in the kitchens get that on and serve the drinks. Oh and don't hurt yourself. Well you can if you want but don't take it to court, I don't have insurance so that might make a bit of a problem," Sylvia grumbled and waddled over to the table near the front door._

_Doing as she was told, Alice scooted past the counter and threw on the pinny. Whilst doing so, she did a rough calculation on how long it would take her to reach her target. 54 hours. Alice groaned, it was going to be a rough few days. _

Alice arched her back among the tables to weave her way to the window seat, five pints of beer perched precariously on the tray in her left hand. Miraculously: she managed to get to her destination without covering anyone in beer or impaling them with shards of glass. Mission one: complete.

"Okay, five beers?" Alice asked, though she knew what they ordered, she just thought it was common courtesy.

"Yeah, love. Just put 'em anywhere," one chap around the table spoke with a kind smile.

Alice smiled back and began to place down the drinks on beer mats around the table. She had been working for five hours now and had not seen Sylvia helping, not once.

"Where's foghorn leghorn?" another of the crew of men cackled rather drunkenly.

Alice raised her eyebrow questioningly.

"Syl'," he elaborated.

"Ohh. Yeah, she's around somewhere. _Somewhere _being the operative word," Alice replied in a small voice, as if waiting for 'Foghorn Leghorn' herself to jump out from behind the table.

The man nodded in understanding, "She can be a piece of work, that one."

"Why do you still come here, then?" Alice asked, one hand on her pinny-clad hip and her head cocked to the side.

The man leaned back in his chair, "It's the only place to go. All the locals 'round 'ere meet up. We all just learn to ignore Sylvia."

Alice gave a short light laugh.

"So, err, what are you doing on Friday night?" the man asked suggestively.

Alice felt blood rise to her cheeks in embarrassment but was saved from answering by the roar of rambunctious laughter all around the table.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. He's only messin'. 'E does it with all the girls around 'ere," one of them assured her through his chuckles.

Trying not to breathe a sigh of relief, Alice decided to go for the jokey reaction. She reached out and took the man's beer from him, earning a cry in protest.

"No, no. I'll take this. You can pick it up on Friday night if you aren't out with Foghorn Leghorn," Alice teased, holding the glass out of the sitting man's reach.

A series of 'oooohh's reverberated around the table and satisfied that she was succeeding as a waitress, Alice placed the beer glass back down and laughed along with them.

"Oi, whatever-your-name-is! You aren't 'ere to flirt with Richie and Co. Table 3 wants a coffee!" Sylvia bellowed across the entire - now silent - café.

Alice turned and realised that Sylvia had been sat stuffing her face with the lemon meringue pie behind the coat rack. She cast a look over to table three and saw that a very red-faced couple were sat there with apologetic faces. Alice gave them a don't-worry-about-it look and carried on to the counter to make their coffee.

"Are you on overnight, tonight?" Sylvia asked, once again across the café.

"Am I meant to be?"

"Yeah. There's a room upstairs as well that two people are spending the night in. It's the only room this pathetic excuse for a coupling B&amp;B has so you need to clean it top to bottom. I'll be inspecting," Sylvia finished with a long drag of a cigarette.

"Of course you will," Alice muttered under breath, delivering the coffee to a still embarrassed table 3.

As ordered, Alice then took off up the insanely steep steps up to the room. A cleaning bucket and hoover stood propped up against the wall.

"Aw, how sweet. Thanks for being so prepared, Foghorn," she mumbled sarcastically and got to work.

* * *

It took a grand total of three hours until Sylvia was satisfied with the cleanness of the room. Alice thought this was very rich coming from a woman that had dried meringue around her face and coffee streaks down her uniform but hey, what the heck.

She supposed that she looked a little worse for wear as well, though. After the ten minutes of intense scrubbing of the taps in the tiny en-suite bathroom, Alice's hair had wormed its way out of the bun she had put it in, her face was greased with polished and a thin layer of sweat lined her forehead.

Finally coming back down into the café, Sylvia went over to scoff more food in the corner and Alice leant her head in her hands atop the counter. The sound of two people bickering outside the shop floated to her ears.

"Rose, I told you not to eat your toast over it!" a male voice scolded, but it seemed slightly humoured by the situation.

"It wasn't my fault!" a female – Rose, presumably – retorted hotly. "I just would have thought your TARDIS would be a bit more sophisticated to handle a few crumbs of bread."

"It can handle crumbs. It just can't handle the entire loaf shoved into the mainframe."

"You told me that was the toaster!" Rose defended.

"I said if you stuck your hand in it, it would _toast you_," the man emphasized the latter words.

"It is hardly my fault you insist on shouting from the library-"

Alice crossed her fingers and hoped that they weren't coming in here; a rowdy couple was the last thing she needed with a headache like hers. The sound of the bell tinkling was the confirmation. She groaned and forced herself to raise her head with a wan, uniform smile on her face.

"Hi, we booked a room for two, yesterday. Is it available?" the man enquired.

"Yesterday?" Sylvia snorted. "You booked two weeks ago."

"Did I?" the man looked thoroughly confused.

_Great, I've been lumbered an overnight with the looney patients, _Alice grumbled inwardly.

"What name are you booked under?" she asked politely, burying her irritation.

"John Smith and Rose Tyler," he answered, motioning to the blonde woman next to him.

Alice nodded and came out from behind the counter, "If you will follow me, I will show you to your room."

The man grinned somewhat goofily and followed after her, the blonde bringing up the rear.

"Watch out for the stairs, they are unbelievably steep," Alice warned once she had reached the top and opened the door.

The new occupants of the room stepped in and Rose immediately cried, "There's only one bed."

"Oh. I th-thought you would have ordered a double," Alice admitted. "I'm sorry. It is the only room we have got."

"It's fine," Rose assured her once she had recovered from her shock, and plonked down on the bed. "He can sleep on the floor."

Alice giggled at the affronted look on John's face.

"Charming," John muttered good-naturedly.

"Have you got any bags that I can bring-" Alice started.

"OI! WHATEVER-YOUR-NAME-IS! CAFÉ IS CLOSING UP! I'M OFF HOME. DON'T BURN THE PLACE DOWN AND I WILL BE BACK IN THE MORNING!" Foghorn Leghorn bellowed up the stairs.

"Okay," Alice replied meekly, proving that you didn't need to tear a lung for someone to hear you less than fifteen metres away.

Once she heard the slam of the door and the windows rattle, Alice turned to the guests.

"That was the delightful Sylvia, but do join me and the rest of the world in calling her Foghorn Leghorn," she smiled.

Rose and John chuckled. _They don't seem that bad, _Alice thought happily.

"Do you want to come down for some free tea? She'll never notice that it's gone. Unless you touch her lemon meringue, then she will send a lynch mob after you," Alice told them conversationally as they proceeded back down to the now empty café.

Alice made three teas and brought them to the table which she sat down at, at John and Rose's request of course.

"So how long have you been working here?" Rose asked as she sipped her tea.

"Just started this morning. It has been one hell of a day, though. It feels like I have been here for months," Alice groaned, cradling her head in her hand.

"Are you supposed to be here all night?" John questioned with a note of concern in his eyes. "And you have been here all day?"

"Well… yeah. But I need the money so…" Alice tried to cover her mistake. "And it isn't like I am at school anymore. I just left th-this year."

_Remember, you are supposed to be sixteen, _she reminded herself.

"You look wrecked. No offence," Rose quickly added.

"Oh, don't worry. I know I must look awful."

A hush of silence fell over the three for that moment, and Alice chose to take the time to study the people in front of her.

Rose looked around twenty. The first thing that struck Alice was how exceptionally pretty she was. Her hair was a beautiful blonde, not the dull kind that Alice's was, and was tied up in a messy bun. She had a fair amount of makeup on, again opposite to Alice. She couldn't help feeling a little jealous of the blonde but pushed away the thought quickly.

John was bald with larger than normal ears that gave him the goofy look that Alice had noticed earlier. _It adds character, _she thought with a grin. He had a leather jacket around his shoulders and a mossy green jumper underneath. The one thing that struck Alice about John was his eyes. As Frank's had been, they were kind and had a tiny twinkle in the corner of them. Of course, that could have been the street light but it was nice to think that it was kindness. It was so rare these days.

"Well, we'd better be getting to bed," John announced, pushing his chair back and standing to his feet.

Rose did the same.

"Sorry, we didn't get your name," she grinned sheepishly looking at Alice.

"Alice," Alice replied without thinking, "Alice Lockwood."

"Good night then, Alice."

Both went up the stairs and disappeared into the room.

Suddenly, a sharp shot of pain stung the side of Alice's head. She clapped a hand to it and winced, feeling for a chair to sit down on. The pain stayed for a few seconds, then ebbed away.

_It must be just because you are tired._

The pain was fully gone now, but Alice realised truly how draining the last week or so had been and how bloody tired she was. No wonder John looked like he was about to call an ambulance for her. Gathering up her pinny and using it as a pillow, Alice crept quietly behind the counter and laid there out of sight of the café window for a little privacy.

The floor was cold and uncomfortable but it was at least somewhere to stay and even better, she was getting paid for it. She had completely forgotten about Avaritia in the time that she had been waitressing. Sylvia had kept her so busy that she didn't have time to worry, only if the coffee was overflowing or they had ran out of cake.

You would think that forgetting for a while would be a good thing, but now the reality of it all came crashing down on her shoulders like a pair of dumbbells falling from the ceiling and landing directly on her bones. She groaned and nestled further into her pillow. She just wanted sleep to claim her and then she would wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and one step closer to paying Avaritia back.

This thought was as comforting as Alice had hoped. Just repeating it over and over in her mind, it began to internalize and she felt her eyelids drooping. However, just as her lashes met, the sound of a loud thumping noise at the door made them snap back open.

"If this is Sylvia, I am going to throw a brick at her," Alice muttered sleepily as she pulled herself up off the floor and shuffled with her blanket around her shoulders over to the door.

The closer she got, the silhouette became clearer and she managed to make it out to be the figure of a man.

_Customer._

Alice opened the door and looked blearily up at the man, but not really _looking._ See, if she had been _looking_, she may have seen the shiny glimmer of the knife in his hand.

"I'm sorry, we are closed until-" she was immediately cut off.

"Hello, Alice Lockwood."

* * *

**HUGE thank you to: d0ct0rwh0l0ckf4n and Thegirlwhowaited97 for reviewing! Replies will be sent to you now :D**

**Thanks for reading,**

**Please review,**

**Abby**

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	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or anything related to the show. All rights go to the BBC. I own Alice :)**

**Author's Note: Hey! So sorry for the lack of update, I have been sick :(**

**Enjoy:**

_Previously:_

_The closer she got, the silhouette became clearer and she managed to make it out to be the figure of a man. _

_Customer._

_Alice opened the door and looked blearily up at the man, but not really looking. See, if she had been looking, she may have seen the shiny glimmer of the knife in his hand._

_"I'm sorry, we are closed until-"_

_"Hello, Alice Lockwood."_

Alex's breath caught in her throat as ice cold panic flooded her. She stood in a paralyzed shock for no less than a second before slamming the café door shut. However, before the door could hit the latch, the man's steel-capped boot shot out and wedged between it.

"The name's Gadsby. I booked a room under the company name: Avaritia," the man – Gadsby –grinned maniacally. "Know anything about that?"

"Sorry, there's no room at the inn, try the stable with the other rats," Alice hissed, her words forced with the effort of pushing the door and terror.

"Ooh, that's a low blow, Lockwood. I'd run if I were you, my friend and I are coming in," Gadsby sneered, holding up the knife so that the light from the streetlamp made it glimmer dangerously.

He thrust forward suddenly and heaved his whole body weight against the door, effortlessly throwing an unsuspecting Alice back into one of the tables. Alice winced in pain and froze as she tried to take a breath, severely winded. Her leg wrapped around one of the broken chairs, making it impossible to try to run.

Gadsby sauntered in, casually stepping over Alice's trapped leg and bent down, clutching Alice's collar. He straightened up, bringing her with him and pushed her roughly against the wall. The wood clinked as it fell from her body and soon Gadsby's arm was pinning her shoulders to the wall.

"You've been quite the bad girl haven't you?" Gadsby leered. "You should have known what refusing Avaritia would do to you, especially after your mother. How is she by the way? Doing any better? How's the alcohol?"

Alice struggled against his hold futilely, her face contorted in anger, "Don't you speak about her."

"Ooh, touched a nerve have I?" the disgusting man snickered.

"How did you find me?" Alice asked, directing the interrogation away from her mother before she did something she would seriously regret.

"Ah, that's the clever bit. A piece of technology my own brother developed, actually. You see, when you make a deal with us, part of the contract is to never say your own name until you have paid us back in full. This means that people can't go to the police and make a statement or anything like that that will jeopardize the company-"

"How do you know if someone has said their own name? What're you getting at here?" Alice interrupted, trying to buy some time, hoping that she would come up with a plan. For now, it was just to keep him talking.

"If you'd be so kind as to let me finish, I will tell you. That night when you took the money from us, a chip was placed into your neck. You won't have felt it; did one of our workers grab your face or around that area?" Gadsby asked knowingly, his restraint getting a little tighter.

Alice's eyes widened as she remembered. The man had pulled her hair and dug into her cheek, she still had some of the bruises. It must have been then. She subconsciously went to touch her neck but found that her arms wouldn't co-operate against Gadsby's robust hold.

"So you tracked me? Why did it take so long? Surely you would have found me as soon as you sent me that message?"

"We got you on CCTV going as far as London and into that hotel, but after that we lost you. Rather clever of you, I must say. That's when the chip came into play. You see, we _offer help_ to lots of people. Thousands. Hundreds of thousands. We can't be constantly tracking each and every one or our system would overload, but we aren't yet that advanced to turn them on from miles and miles away. So, with each chip before we drop off the money or drugs or whatever it is, we programme it to turn on when it hears that person's name. More specifically, when that person says _their own_ name. Thankfully, you did and it led us straight to you," Gadsby's chest puffed out proudly, his arm now starting to bruise Alice's.

_"Alice," Alice replied without thinking, "Alice Lockwood,"_ That was what she had said. She had told John and Rose.

_John and Rose! _she suddenly thought with alarm. _Please let them be asleep. Please don't let them get caught up in my mess._

"I can't pay you yet," Alice murmured hoarsely. "But I'll be able to soon. I only have a few more shifts here and I can get it back to you."

"That's not the point. You disobeyed the rules, you have to be punished," Gadsby brought the knife back up and pressed it to her cheek.

Alice winced as a thin scratch was made, a little drop of blood bubbling from under the silver.

"Please," she begged, her eyes wide and as shiny as the knife in Gadsby's hand.

"Don't worry," he cooed gently, moving forward to whisper in her ear. "It will only hurt for a second."

He brought his arm back, but by doing so weakened the one holding Alice. She managed to wriggle free at the last minute, the blade only catching her upper-arm. She suppressed the cry of pain and thrust out with her leg, kicking Gadsby in the back of the knees, making him buckle.

In this moment of distraction, Alice took her chance. There was no way that she could get to the door without getting past Gadsby – which there wasn't time for – so the only option left was to take shelter somewhere and hope that the neighbours would hear the disturbance and call the police. Clasping her wound with her hand, Alice sprinted over to the counter, vaulting over the surface and taking cover behind it. Her foot slipped on her make-shift bedding but she was otherwise unscathed.

"YOU BITCH!" Gadsby bellowed, his head bleeding from where he had made contact with the floor.

Alice winced at his tone. Her heart was thumping in her head, adrenaline taking over. Suddenly, a silver fork came flying over her head, striking into the plaster on the wall. He was picking up the cutlery from the tables, Alice noted with horror.

"I'LL TEACH YOU! COME HERE AND TAKE YOUR MEDICINE! NO-ONE MESSES WITH US, ESPECIALLY NOT LOCKWOODS!"

The girl hunched over as much as she could, crouching behind the counter amongst the boxes of spare napkins and reservation lists, hardly anything worth using as a weapon.

Another fork came whistling through the air, bounced off the wall and buried itself in the back of Alice's hand. She let out a cry of pain before clapping a hand to her mouth. She couldn't wake John and Rose up, if they weren't already woken. She would get them killed.

Clenching her teeth together, Alice extracted the silver in one quick yank. Four tiny spots of blood marked the prongs.

_I'll live, _Alice thought positively as a butter knife plunged into the other side of the counter, _or not._

"Come on, Alice. Let's make this a little bit interesting," Gadsby mocked, throwing a succession of coasters, calming down once he saw his chances looking up again. "Don't hide away like a little girl."

Alice closed her eyes and listened to her heart pounding in her ears, drowning out the mocking of the man. She just prayed that John and Rose were deeply asleep.

* * *

In fact, 'John' had already been awake when he heard the knock on the door. The Doctor rolled over, wincing as the uncomfortable floor made his back twinge. That was the trouble with this regeneration, the enormous ears and the temperamental back. He hoped to have better luck next time.

The Doctor looked over to Rose and saw that she hadn't stirred. Her hair was matted and tangled, her face wrinkled against the pillow, but she hadn't woken.

Perhaps he had imagined the noise? Or maybe the TARDIS was just angry at him for breaking her and was sending him telepathic sounds to make him go insane? That sounded like her.

But no, there it went again. The Doctor pulled himself up into a sitting position; that definitely wasn't in his mind. That was almost certainly physical. He strained his ears and could now vaguely make out voices. A girl's voice. With a jolt, the Doctor realised that it was Alice, the waitress in the café downstairs.

"Who would a waitress be talking to at two o'clock in the morning when the café closed hours ago?" he soliloquized.

He tried to convince himself that it was none of his business and laid back down with his hands folded over his abdomen. It was beginning to work when the first of the loud slams and chinks of metal were heard. Of course the Doctor could never mind his own business, being nosey was part of the job description.

Rose shot up in bed too, roused by the sound.

"Doctor, what's-" she began but was startled to find that the Doctor had already jumped to his feet and was peering around the doorway.

Rose climbed out from underneath the bobbled duvet and joined him at the door.

"Has that girl got her boyfriend 'round or something?" Rose asked with an amused grin as she heard a male voice. "What was she called…? Alice, that's it."

The owner of the voice walked into the view of the doorway and that theory was crushed.

"Unless her boyfriend is forty, I'd say not," the Doctor remarked, moving closer down the staircase into the café. "Can you see her?"

Rose squinted, her eyes still bleary from being so roughly awoken from her slumber, "Uh, no… What do you think then, burglar? Do we fight burglars?"

"I don't think he is a burglar. It doesn't look like he is taking anything," the Doctor frowned, getting an uneasy feeling about him. _Where was that girl?_

That uneasy feeling was tripled as the man leant across one of the tables, picked up one of the forks and hurled it at something that the Doctor and Rose couldn't see because of the partition of the wall.

A muffled feminine cry was all that the Doctor needed to know. He darted forward and burst out of the door into the café.

"Doctor," Rose hissed, hobbling down the stairs after him.

Gadsby looked at them in a mixture of shock and pleasure, "Ooh, look Alice! You've got some of your friends here. Do you want these to join the party as well?"

"No! Leave them alone, they have nothing to do with me!" Alice yelled desperately over the countertop. "They are just renting out the room upstairs. Let them go. John, Rose, run!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the Doctor intervened. "Let's just all calm down and deal with this rationally, shall we? Hm?"

Gadsby smirked the same senseless smirk as before and gradually raised another knife in his fist. The Doctor and Rose began to back towards Alice hidden behind the countertop.

"There's no need for knives. I would put that away before someone gets hurt," the Doctor stated casually, but there was no denying the warning glare in his eye.

Gadsby was unfazed as he proceeded forwards.

"Doctor…" Rose drew out, now completely and cruelly awake.

"You should keep better company, you two. You're fraternizing with a criminal here," Gadsby informed them in mock-sadness.

Rose and the Doctor sent Alice a questioning glance behind the counter.

"Get over here now," Alice mouthed, her hand wrapped around the blood-stained fork that had punctured her hand. "One… two… three!"

She shouted the last word as she popped up momentarily from behind the counter and tossed the fork in Gadsby's general direction. He roared in pain, his hand cupped over his eye.

Alice frantically threw open the door into the kitchen, "Hurry!"

The Doctor and Rose wasted no time barrelling out after her, crashing the door shut behind them.

"Is there a door out of here or something?" Rose queried, spinning around and scanning the room. "It sounds like he is coming!"

"Fire exit," the Doctor pointed toward the door as the door from the kitchen rocked open.

"I'm going to kill you for this, Lockwood," Gadsby snarled, bloody flowing freely from his unseeing eye. "You're just like your father."

Alice skidded to a stop, a horrible feeling worming its way through her like a cancer. No, she wasn't her father. But that was exactly what her father would've done. Her gaze fixed on the steady line of blood on Gadsby's face. She was her father.

Gadsby grinned; he knew he had hit potluck with that simple sentence.

_Alice! Alice, hurry up; what are you doing?! _she vaguely heard someone shout, but sounding like it was coming from the other side of a pane of glass.

A hand pulled roughly on her shoulder, snapping her back into reality. She tore her eyes away from the man and followed the Doctor's tugging arm out of the fire exit limply. Before Gadsby could follow, the Doctor, Rose and Alice had heaved a large yellow skip in front of the door.

The fire exit led out to the small yard at the back of the café, only containing cracked mossy plant pots and a collection of bins. Alice tried to open the fence, but a bulky padlock sealed the iron handles together. She let out a grunt of frustration and kicked the wood.

"We need to get out of here, now; that thing isn't going to hold him, he's crazy," Rose said, shooting fretful glances at the skip and the wails of Gadsby as he shoved himself against it.

"Where? He'll find us. I have a stupid chip in my neck. You two need to get as far away as you can away from me," Alice looked down briefly in sadness, it would have been nice not to do it alone.

"Well that isn't going to happen, so you can shoot that down. I have a place that's safe and he won't find any of us there," the Doctor said, rummaging in his leather jacket.

Alice watched in confusion then wonderment as he pulled out what looked like a thick pen with a blue nib. He move Alice aside and pressed the blue nib to the padlock. It buzzed and made a strange whirring sound whilst lighting up vibrant indigo. With her mouth gaping, Alice's eyes widened as the padlock fell clean off as if the key had been neatly slotted in and turned. But there was no key.

The Doctor pocketed the device back in his jacket.

"What the bloody hell is _that_?!" Alice exclaimed, pointing to the small bulge in the leather jacket that held the device.

"Sonic screwdriver," the Doctor replied simply as he pushed the gate open. "Now are you going to stand there all day because I believe there is a psychopath waiting to murder us all and it looks like he is about to get out."

Sure enough, the skip trapping Gadsby gave another horrible lurch, Alice's stomach lurching with it.

The Doctor held the gate open for Alice expectantly as he and Rose scurried out.

"Are you coming or not?"

Alice turned on her heel from where she was staring at the door and hesitated. If she truly was her father, then she was putting John and Rose in too much danger. She deserved to feel the knife on her skin.

"Go," Alice murmured, her voice cracking slightly. "Thank you, but go. This isn't your fight, it's mine."

"Yeah and it seems like a pretty fair fight," the Doctor countered sarcastically. "A fully grown man armed with knives versus a scared defenceless sixteen year old."

"Fifteen," Alice corrected quietly.

Not that it mattered. The whole idea was to get to her mum. All she wanted to do was be with her mother and if she couldn't do that, what meaning did her life have?

"Alice, just hurry up," Rose tried. "Come with us. We have a motor; we can take you back to your family and explain what's happened so you can figure it out between yourselves. Don't –"

Alice drowned out what the rest of Rose's sentence was.

"You can take me to my mum?" Alice asked so innocently and childishly that she sounded only six years old.

"Of course we can, just walk over here," the Doctor coaxed.

Alice felt her legs moving forward, the sound of the skip being pushed aside a dull background noise in her head. All that mattered was she was going to her mother. Her life was finally going to be complete.

She vaguely felt her hand be enclosed by Rose's and her legs were moving faster. Running. Her threadbare shoes pounding down the pavement of the once sleepy town of Chestnut Grove.

The veered a sudden right around a corner to a dead-end. The only thing in on the path – aside from wild clematis – was a peculiar blue box.

* * *

**Thank you to: GottaLoveTen, d0ct0rwh0l0ckf4n and Thegirlwhowaited97 for reviewing :) Replies are being sent to you now. **

**Thanks for reading,**

**Please review,**

**Abby**

**X**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or anything related to the show. All rights go to the BBC. I own Alice and her story :)**

**Author's Note: Hello :) I am so sorry for the late update, but I have been so busy and have three other stories to write for. it's the summer holidays now, though, so I should be able to update more! :D**

**Enjoy:**

_Previously:_

_Alice felt her legs moving forward, the sound of the skip being pushed aside a dull background noise in her head. All that mattered was she was going to her mother. Her life was finally going to be complete._

_She vaguely felt her hand be enclosed by Rose's and her legs were moving faster. Running. Her threadbare shoes pounding down the pavement of the once sleepy town of Chestnut Grove. _

_The veered a sudden right around a corner to a dead-end. The only thing in on the path – aside from wild clematis – was a peculiar blue box. _

Alice frowned in panicked confusion as they stopped running at the box.

"What are you doing? We need to get out of here, it's a dead-end! He'll kill us!"

Alice couldn't believe how calm they were being as the Doctor reached once again into his coat pockets and retrieved a silvery, glimmering key. Rose leant leisurely against the wooden panel of the box, catching her breath.

"We'll be safe in here, don't worry Alice," the Doctor smiled cheerfully.

The girl ran a shaky hand through her hair, her breathing becoming erratic. _I was right, they are loonies! _The box said something about police calling.

"We can call the police when we are further away. And who uses those these days anyway? Please, we've got to run! Or maybe get a car. Can either of you two - ? Hey, listen to me! Why are you going in there?!"

The Doctor had twisted the key in the lock of the mysterious blue police call box and pushed the door inwards whilst she had been mid-spiel, walking in. Rose lingered near the doorway, regarding Alice closely. She was about to say something when a figure appeared at the top of the alleyway. Gadsby.

"Oops, looks like someone's trapped, doesn't it? Poor, poor Alice," Gadsby sang, one hand over his eye and one clutching another knife.

Alice felt her whole world go crashing down. A tear leaked out of the corner of her eye. She was trapped. And so were Rose and the Doctor. They were going to die and there was nothing she could do about it. It was her fault.

"You two coming in yet, or not?" the Doctor yelled impatiently from inside the box.

Alice frowned as it sounded like he was further away than what he was. He was right next to her, wasn't he? Stood in that tiny, defenceless box.

"Come on," Rose said, clutching Alice's elbow.

Alice let out a mirthless laugh and shaking her head, stepped backwards into the box, expecting to walk straight into the Doctor – or 'John' as she knew him. Only, she didn't. She didn't walk into him at all. Nor did her back hit wood.

Slowly turning around, her jaw dropped.

She vaguely heard Rose shutting the door behind her and Gadsby's laughter being drowned out, but she didn't care. She was focussed on the spectacle in front of her.

It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It was circular shaped, opposite of the exterior. She stood on a grated ramp leading down to a mesh and glass floor. In the middle of the room was a circular panel with buttons and gadgets, a giant beam of light encased in glass rose and fell. Several rooms branched off from various corridors.

"It's… it's…" Alice faltered.

"Bigger on the inside?" the Doctor supplied.

"Uh-huh," Alice replied weakly.

"It's a bit much to take in, isn't it?" Rose smiled reassuringly. "I was the same."

"It's called the TARDIS. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space. And my name isn't really John Smith. I'm the Doctor."

"Me an' him travel around places in this old thing. Different planets at different times in history," Rose explained.

"So… you're alien?" Alice asked warily.

"Yup. A Timelord." the Doctor replied, popping the p.

"He's not what you would expect an alien to look like I know, but –" Rose started.

A loud bang at the closed door made Alice recoil suddenly and back up against the control panel. It was only wood! Gadsby had a knife; he would be able to get through!

A hand rested on her shoulder, making her flinch. The hand disappeared but the Doctor kept talking.

"It's alright, as I said to Rose, the assembled hoards of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door," he paused as he looked at the pounding door. "Though, that noise is a little annoying. I'll just take us somewhere else."

The Doctor walked around to the other side of the control panel and set the TARDIS into motion. Alice braced herself, expecting for it to fly or throw her around, but it didn't. It was as if it was completely stationary. Yet, the banging had disappeared, and Alice could make out the muffled cry of seagulls.

"That's amazing," she whispered.

The Doctor beamed back at her as she ran her hand over the panel gently. She winced as she caught her bleeding hand on one of the many nooks and crannies.

"You want me to take a look at that?" the Doctor asked in concern.

Alice shook her head, "No, it's fine. It doesn't… wait! The chip! I've still got that chip in me! Avaritia will be able to find us!"

The all-too-familiar taste of fear lingered in her throat once again as she clapped a hand to her neck.

"Calm down, the TARDIS blocked the transmission as you came in. It's completely dead now," the Doctor grinned proudly.

Alice let her hand fall from her throat in relief. It was amazing how just a few hours ago, she as working shifts at a café, feeling that things were going to go right from there. Since then she had been attacked, terrified, humiliated and… rescued? Huh. She would have never thought that last one would happen, not in a million years.

"So Alice," the Doctor clapped his hands together and leant back against the control panel. "What's your story?"

Rose patted the seat next her in indication for Alice to sit down. She obliged somewhat nervously and began.

"Well, my name's Alice Lockwood, as you know. I, uh… I used to live at Brantley Care Home in Glasgow."

"So have you left now that you are sixteen?" Rose asked.

Alice turned to her sheepishly, "Yeah... I am not really sixteen. I turned fifteen last month."

"Wait, then how did-? Ahh," Rose's eyes cleared in understanding.

"You're a runaway," the Doctor remarked.

"Yeah. I couldn't stand the place so I set off and tried to find my mum. I went back to my childhood home but I was told that she'd moved to Cornwall."

"We can take you to her as I said, but why was that man trying to kill you?"

Alice wriggled uncomfortably in the seat, "I don't suppose you've heard of Avaritia, have you?"

At the Doctor and Rose's blank expressions, she reluctantly elaborated.

"Avaritia are a criminal organization that gives you dodgy money to get you on your feet before paying them back. It's better than a bank loan because you need all sorts of checks for that and most people asking Avaritia for help have literally nothing or are convicts. You can either pay them back in money, or do a deal with them, usually to do with drugs. I used them to get enough money so that I could travel down and find my mum," Alice explained, pausing to take a long breath and to watch their faces.

"So what happened? Didn't you pay them back?" the Doctor questioned.

"I was going to! I fell asleep on the train and I think that was when the money went missing. I had borrowed two hundred pounds and every penny had gone. Then I got a text saying that they wanted the money back and that they were in London. I… I panicked. I ran as fast as I could and as far as I could until I got to Chestnut Grove and then had to try to make the money back and… well you know the rest."

Rose and the Doctor were silent as Alice stared down at her hands in shame. If it wasn't for her, the good Samaritans in front of her wouldn't have been in danger.

"I'm so sorry," she apologised quietly. "You two could've been killed and it would have been my fault."

"Nah, don't get yourself upset, we do this sort of thing all the time, don't we Rose?" the Doctor dismissed.

"Uh-huh," Rose smiled.

"You said that you could take me to my mum…" Alice trailed off expectantly.

The Doctor sprang to his feet, grinning, "That I did! Okay, give me the address."

Alice jumped up with him, beaming like a Cheshire cat. Until she heard that. She deflated.

"I don't have it. All I know is that she is in Cornwall," Alice shook her head as she realised how stupid she had been. "I was going to run away to a place I have never been to before in hope of finding one woman among thousands."

"Chin up!" the Doctor ordered. "Tell me your mother's name."

"Jenna Lockwood," Alice replied in confusion. "But how are you going to-"

"7 Copeland Terrace, Padstow, Cornwall," the Doctor relayed, staring intently at a screen on the control panel.

"What?"

"Your mother's address."

Alice ran over to the screen and cried out in a mixture of happiness and shock. Sure enough, the screen showed her mother's name, address, birthday and even a small passport photo in the top corner.

"That's her! That's Mum! Oh my God, it's her!" Alice's cheeks were beginning to ache from smiling so much. She supposed she was a little out of practice. Though, that was about to change. "You could take me?"

"We're already there," the Doctor looked out of the corner of his eye at her. "Step outside."

Alice switched her gaze to the door. The sound of the seagulls had gone and had been replaced by the sound of traffic and vehicles. Her legs felt like jelly as she walked up the ramp and gripped the handle of the door. She pushed it open slowly, revelling in the spark of excitement it sent through her.

The houses were terraced and quite old looking. It had the unmistakeable feel of a council estate, but Alice figured that she could deal with that. Once they were together again, she would be able to get a part time job and help out her mother with the bills and such. The idea made her swell with delight.

"What number was it?" she breathed.

"7," the Doctor whispered back from behind her.

Alice stepped fully out from the TARDIS and scraped her eyes over the various house numbers. Her heart was hammering in her chest.

"Three… four… five… six," she muttered under her breath as she pounded the pavement until she came to a stop. "Seven."

Alice stood rooted to the spot. Her smile dropped. The house looked terrible. The windows had been cracked and boarded up crudely with rotting planks of timber, tattered curtains blowing gently outside. The front lawn was overgrown, abundant with weeds and dandelions. A rusting shopping trolley laid upturned on the grass. The front door was broken, hanging off its hinges and calved in two.

"You can't have got the right house. This can't be it," she said to the Doctor.

"It is. The TARDIS is never wrong and she said that Jenna Lockwood, your mother, lives at 7 Copeland Terrace, Padstow," the Doctor insisted.

Alice bit her lip and rested her hand on the garden gate in front of her, pushing it open, "Maybe she is just doing some decorating. Mum loves to paint."

"Yeah," Rose agreed to make her feel better.

Taking a deep breath, Alice proceeded up the path, dodging the nettles. She was faintly aware of the Doctor and Rose following her as she pushed open the damaged door. It swung open making an ominous creaking sound that echoed up the vacant hallway that it led to.

"Mum?" Alice called out anxiously.

She took another step forward, almost losing her footing as she stepped on hundreds of unopened letters in an untidy pile on the doormat. Alice glanced at them for only a moment, picking up the words, FOR IMMEDIATE RESPONSE, URGENT, PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL written on most of them in block capitals across the middle.

_Please, no. She's changed. She told me she'd changed, _Alice thought as she forced the door to the living room open.

It was worse than the garden. The walls were smothered in damp and not even papered or painted. Strewn across the floor were old pizza and takeaway boxes, and of course, the bottles. As soon as Alice saw them, her heart sank. Her mother had lied to her in the letters she had sent to the care home. She hadn't been to rehab at all. Alice was willing to bet that her mother had never stepped one foot in a rehabilitation centre.

Rose let out a surprised 'oomph' as she tripped on one of the empty bottles of Bell's Whiskey. Unfortunately a common sight throughout Alice's childhood.

"I'm sorry you had to see this," Alice coughed uncomfortably and continued lamely. "Thank you anyway for… well… for bringing me here and… stuff."

"We can't just leave you here, I mean…" Rose trailed off awkwardly, motioning to the room.

The Doctor was watching Alice carefully, as if he were scanning her. She shifted under his gaze and proceeded to sweep away three empty packets of cigarettes from the faded couch.

"It isn't that bad. It just needs a little clean up."

"Where's your mum now then?" the Doctor asked, his smile also gone.

"She's probably just at the shops," Alice said, _the off-licence most probably._

"We'll stay here until she gets back. Just to make sure that it is the right house. We don't want to leave a girl like you in the middle of Cornwall alone do we?"

Alice forced a light chuckle and ducked into the kitchen – that was in the same state as the living room. She closed the door ever-so-slightly behind her to block the Doctor and Rose's view of it. Their look on her family had already been tainted enough. She got to work on washing up three mugs – through the grime – and making tea. She brought it in the room on a tray but hovered near the door as she heard Rose and the Doctor talking quietly in hushed whispers.

"What are we going to do? We can't leave her here, she is only a kid. Have you seen the state of this house," Rose whispered.

"Well what else can I do? I'm not Supernanny," the Doctor replied.

"Take her back to the care home. At least she will be safe there."

"And what about that gang that's after her, that Avaritia? She's up to her neck in trouble. Sending her back to the care home will probably get her killed. She'll be better off staying here so that her and her mum can figure it out between themselves. It's clear that's what Alice wants, and it really is our only option," the Doctor finished.

"There is another option."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "No. It's too dangerous."

"But –"

The conversation was instantly and immediately dropped as Alice accidently stood on a squeaky floorboard and alerted them of her presence.

"Tea," she announced with a small smile.

They murmured their thank-yous and held the mug in their hands, not taking a sip. Alice understood. Neither was she. They were too disgusted, she was too nervous.

She had never jumped so much in her life, than when she heard the door being forced open and a familiar female voice.

* * *

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	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or anything related to the show. All rights go to the BBC. I own Alice :)**

**Author's Note: Helloo! Not much to report this time. Sorry for the late-ish chapter but my niece decided to give herself concussion so most of my efforts have been on pampering her, haha. **

**Enjoy:**

_Previously:_

_"Tea," she announced with a small smile._

_They murmured their thank-yous and held the mug in their hands, not taking a sip. Alice understood. Neither was she. They were too disgusted, she was too nervous. _

_She had never jumped so much in her life, than when she heard the front door being forced open and a familiar female voice._

Alice withdrew from the sofa as if she had been burned and turned to the Doctor and Rose.

"Quick, into the kitchen," she hissed, her eyes darting back to the door. "Hurry. There's a back door I noticed. Get out onto the main street and I'll be out. Wait for me."

They obliged as quickly as she ordered, Rose clutching her hand for a brief moment with a reassuring smile that Alice found hard to return. Her stomach was churning.

"Bloody door. Get that bloody door fixed. Get that goddamn bloody door fixed," the voice muttered before shoulder-barging the living room door open.

Alice froze, taking in the woman in front of her. Her mother.

"Mum?" she whispered.

Jenna stopped in her tracks, squinting to focus her eyes on the girl in her living room. The woman's hair was a greasy mess, and Alice could smell the fumes from where she was stood, both off Jenna's clothes and from her breath. Mascara was smudged onto her cheeks and bright red lipstick stained her yellowing teeth.

"Who you?" Jenna asked dozily.

Alice recoiled in hurt, but recovered, it wasn't the first time her mother hadn't recognised her.

"It's me, Mum. It's Alice. You remember me, don't you? I'm… I'm your daughter."

Jenna raised an eyebrow in confusion, falling to the sofa and pulling out a cigarette from her short skirt.

"I don't 'ave a daugh'er. Bloody good thing, too. Bring yer nuffin but trouble, kids do," Jenna slurred, taking a long drag from her cigarette.

Tears pricked at Alice's eyes and threatened to fall at her mother's words. Every syllable had driven the knife resting on her chest further into her skin.

"Mum," her voice cracked. "You're drunk. Come on, I'll run you a bath, and-and you can sober up. You'll remember me."

Alice reached out to help her up, but flinched back as Jenna dragged her hand away with a look of disgust. The woman's mouth contorted as she was about to utter some vile retort, but her eyes suddenly widened in recognition and the words on the tip of her tongue died.

"I know you…" she trailed off.

Finally, a tear escaped Alice's eye.

"Yes," she replied softly with a gentle smile. "You do know me."

What Alice had mistaken for motherly love, suddenly boiled into rage as Jenna stood up from the sofa and grasped Alice's upper arm.

"What the hell are you doing here? Do you have any idea what he'll do to me if he finds out, you're here?!" Jenna shook her.

"If who finds out? … Mum, is someone threatening you?" Alice asked protectively, subconsciously shooting a glance out of the broken window.

"No, he doesn't _threaten _me! He loves me and I love him! You just don't understand," Jenna muttered. "You never understood."

Alice suddenly felt as if she had swallowed bricks. She yanked out of her mother's hold.

"You don't mean… you told me… in the letter," Alice backed up against the fireplace.

"I told you a lot of things in that letter. Rehab? Single?" Jenna threw her head back and laughed. "You really think Alexander and I would break up because of you?"

Alice winced at the name, biting her lip to suppress old memories. She took a breath to steady herself.

"Is…" she broke off for a moment. "Is… is he here? Now? Is Alex- _my father _here now?"

Jenna sniffed, "He'll be back in a bit. So you better clear off."

Her daughter staggered, "But Mum, I came so far to find you. I was almost murdered. If you don't help me, I will probably be lying in a ditch somewhere waiting for someone to care."

"Then you'll be waiting an awfully long time, because if Alexander comes in here now, I'll be telling him that I want nothing to do with you. You never brought me any good, Alice Lockwood. All you did was bring trouble with the social services sniffing around and you not being able to keep your trap shut," Jenna snarled at her. "It was your fault Alexander had to do time. All you had to do was say you fell down the stairs and that would've been the end of it."

"I couldn't say that because that isn't what happened!" Alice's voice rose in anger. "You _know _what happened! You watched!"

Jenna folded her arms stubbornly, "Lies. That's all you ever did. No, sorry, that's all you did when you weren't_ supposed _to. You couldn't manage one tiny white lie for the family, could you?"

Alice gritted her teeth, "No. Because. I. Was. Sick."

"Sick? Sick of what? Sick of having parents? Because you soon sorted that out!"

"I was sick of having to pretend! My arm didn't break when I 'fell down the stairs' and you know it. The only reason I came to find you was because I thought you'd changed. I thought you'd left my father and you wanted me. That's what you said in your letter," Alice wiped away her steady stream of tears with the back of her hand.

Jenna scoffed, having no reaction to her crying child, "It just proves how naïve you are."

Alice's anger faded as she looked outside at the driving rain the heavy clouds were spilling and the chill that was making her shiver. She reached out to her mother tentatively, placing her hand on Jenna's forearm. Jenna didn't react.

"Please let me stay… I… I can't be alone again. I just… I just can't. You don't understand what it's like. You don't understand how it is to be completely alone because you've been surrounded all your life. I've spent the last few years completely and utterly alone… not being able to cling on to anyone because I know what happens. People move on without me and I'm left behind." Alice finished with a choke and clapped a hand to her mouth to muffle a sob.

Jenna wrenched her arm free with a look of loathing on her face, "Then go and be alone somewhere away from me."

It was all Alice took not to fall apart at that moment. She stared back at her mother, silent tears running down her face. There was no remorse in her mother's eyes.

"… Fine," Alice whispered.

She shrugged her jacket onto her shoulder where it had slipped off and treaded softly over the broken glass to the doorway. She turned to her mother.

"Can I have one last hug?"

Jenna looked appalled but walked over to her. Alice's heart suddenly swelled. Maybe… once they touched… she'd change her mind. Just to feel her mother's arms around her, it would make everything-

Jenna stopped in front of her. Alice awkwardly held out her arms, but Jenna didn't. She gave a wry smile and slammed the door shut.

Alice stumbled back and fell from the top step of the three leading up to the door. She landed at the bottom roughly, opening the wound on her hand. Betrayal seeped into every pore of her skin and her face screwed up, but she wouldn't break down yet.

She pulled herself up and glanced at the window. She saw a face staring back at her coldly, and the tattered curtains were swept across.

And that was the end.

Alice pushed open the broken gate and landed heavily on the sole of her feet on the pavement. She walked numbly against the rain, having no idea where she was, and not particularly caring. Nothing mattered anymore.

The chaos of the main road she was next to died down as she wandered into a public playground. It had the usual playhouse and climbing frame with swings. All were empty as every child had ran back home to avoid the rain.

Alice walked over to the climbing frame and huddled beneath it in a sheltered section for the younger children to play in. The climbing frame acted as a roof and the wood chippings were an acceptable mattress. Better than concrete.

She laid her head down on the ground, curling up into a ball, and the floodgates were opened. Her emotions: grief, anger, betrayal, hopelessness, all came out in one large bubble of agony. She cried as loudly as she needed to, the pound of the rain on metal above her drowning the noise out.

Alice didn't know how long she had been there for, only that the rain hadn't ceased, though it was now night again. Darkness fell all around her, the only company she had. She hadn't realised that she was shivering until she moved positions and found her skin to be raw. She didn't feel the pain.

"Alice?" a voice called.

The girl turned over, frowning at the voice. The owner walked over and knelt next to her, stroking her hair.

"You're okay, now. Come on, get up," it encouraged.

"Mum?" Alice asked hopefully.

"Afraid not."

It was then that Alice realised that there were two people. The Doctor and Rose. Not her mother. Her heart sunk again from where it had leaped. They were both as soaked as she was, but had coats that they had no doubt acquired from the TARDIS. Rose held Alice's hand tightly.

"Come on with us, Alice. We'll take care of you," she smiled gently.

Alice swallowed, looking at the Doctor for approval. She had heard their conversation and knew that it was him who had said for her not to stay with them. She was sure that was the 'other option' they had been discussing.

The Doctor said nothing but held out his hand to take her free one. Together, he and Rose pulled her out from beneath the climbing frame and held on to each of her arms as she stumbled. Everything seemed blurry, and that was when her vision went black.

The Doctor caught her as she fell towards him, and picked her up with one hand supporting her back, the other under her knees.

"Is she okay?" Rose asked frantically.

"She's just exhausted. The TARDIS will have a room set up for her, no doubt. She just needs some sleep," the Doctor replied as Rose opened the door to the TARDIS and held it open him.

He nodded his thanks and proceeded to the left corridor. A door materialized to the side of him, and he pushed it open. He didn't have time to look around to see what his old girl had mastered up this time; he just headed straight for the bed and laid Alice beneath the covers. He removed her shoes and threadbare jacket before standing back and looking at her.

His new companion. That is, if she said yes, which he had no doubt that she would. It wasn't as if she had anywhere else to go. He pressed a hand to her head and was relieved to find no fever.

With her eyes closed so tightly and the tear tracks down her face, she looked much younger than her fifteen years. Her hair was matted with wood chippings from the floor and the cut on her hand was a brilliant contrast from her paper-white skin.

"I hope you're ready for this, Alice."

* * *

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	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or anything related to the show. All rights go to the BBC. I own Alice :)**

**Author's Note: So sorry for the hiatus but other stories took over and life got in the way and... *sigh*. I'm really sorry and I hope to update regularly now. A long chapter to make up for it!**

**Enjoy:**

_Previously:_

_His new companion. That is, if she said yes, which he had no doubt that she would. It wasn't as if she had anywhere else to go. He pressed a hand to her head and was relieved to find no fever. _

_With her eyes closed so tightly and the tear tracks down her face, she looked much younger than her fifteen years. Her hair was matted with wood chippings from the floor and the cut on her hand was a brilliant contrast from her paper-white skin._

_"I hope you're ready for this, Alice."_

Alice groaned and rolled over on her side. What she was lying on was a pleasant change from what she had been used to. It was warm and comforting and her head was resting on something just as soft as her body. This definitely wasn't the Care Home (the beds there were rough and itchy) and it couldn't have been home (she didn't have a bed at home) and it certainly wasn't under a bridge somewhere. Her mind was fuzzy with sleep but she managed to make out something… something happened yesterday, what was it…? Hmm… She gasped and jerked up.

"Mum," she breathed, and all of the memories came swarming back.

The house, her mother, the rejection, the playground, and then Rose and the Doctor. Alice looked around unsurely.

The room she was in was quaint and cosy, the way she liked it. It was small with a chestnut wardrobe in the corner and a double bed that she was laying in. She had never laid in a double bed before - there was so much space! The walls were a deep red and the furniture was dark brown.

It seemed much too homely for a hotel.

"Where am I?" she whispered to herself, looking around in wonder.

_You are in the TARDIS, child._

Alice jumped at the voice and spun around to find the owner. But the door was still shut, and there was no other presence in the room that she could see. Swinging her legs over the covers and standing up, Alice crouched down and scanned beneath the bed for the voice.

_I'm not under there, Alice. _

The voice made Alice give another start, causing her to whack her head off the metal frame of the bed. She straightened up, rubbing her head.

"Who are you? _Where _are you?" Alice asked, glad no-one was around to see her speaking to thin air.

_I am the TARDIS. You are inside of me. I'm speaking inside your mind so don't worry, you aren't going insane._

Alice didn't process what the TARDIS said, she was too busy backing up into the corner of the room, her eyes darting around for any sign of movement. Her survival mode had been switched on._  
_

_I am a friend, Alice. You can trust me._

"How can I trust you if I can't see you? How are you speaking to me?" Alice whispered, her knuckles white against the cabinet.

_You are familiar with the Doctor?_

"Yes," Alice replied after a pause.

_I am his ship. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. If you trust the Doctor, you can trust me._

Oh yes, she remembered. When they had been running from Gadsby, they had hidden inside the TARDIS and she had taken them to her mother. Or who used to be her mother. So she was inside that blue box. Whoa, it really was bigger on the inside. It had more than just that large room that she had been taken to.

"And who's to say that I trust the Doctor?" she retorted once she got her bearings.

_You don't?_

"He... I barely know him... he could be..." Alice trailed off.

_You saved the Doctor and Rose's lives. If you didn't trust him why would you do so?_

"Because... because, oh I don't know!" she spluttered. "It was the heat of the moment and... and anyway, it was my fault we got into that mess. If they'd have died and I'd survived, their death would be on my conscience."

_Theirs and many others._

Alice frowned, "I'm sorry?"

_The Doctor travels through space and time helping others and saving civilisations. If he was killed, millions, perhaps billions of others would suffer because he wouldn't be around to save them. And it would be your fault._

Alice stood in a stunned silence for a few moments.

"What do you sound so accusing? Look, as soon as I figure out how to get out of here, I'm gone so don't feel like you need to persuade me to leave because I already am," she said firmly, taking herself by surprise at the venom in her voice.

_No, I don't think you will._

She gave a mirthless snort, "You're gonna stop me, are you? Lots of people have tried to stop me before you and have failed."

_Is that why you currently have no home, no family, no currency, and no friends?_

"I really don't like you."

_That doesn't matter. You'll come to like me in time... You like the Doctor don't you? And Rose?_

"You've already asked me-"

_No, I haven't. Like and trust are two different things. You may like the elderly woman at the corner shop, but you wouldn't trust her with your life._

Alice considered this. She definitely didn't trust them. She had been taught from a very young age that trust is something that is unbelievably rare and was to be avoided. At least, from her experiences, not trusting anyone made life just life so much easier and pain-free. This was only concreted by her mother. The one person she had allowed herself to love and trust had literally thrown her from the door of her childhood home into the rain.

"They're nice," Alice said quietly. "I do like them."

_Then you'll stay._

Alice shook her head, "I haven't been asked. And I couldn't ask. I'll find somewhere."

But she knew she wouldn't. She'd have to go back. Back there. To _that _place. Pretend to be someone else. You had to be the tough girl and keep your head down unless you wanted your door kicked in and your stuff nicked. That wasn't Alice. She wasn't tough. She was done with being tough. Maybe she'd go back and find Frank, the homeless man under the bridge.

"I'll find somewhere," she repeated softly, more for her own benefit than the TARDIS's.

_Would you like to have a shower, Alice?_

Alice blinked at the sudden change in topic, then ran her hand through her grubby hair with a grimace, "Uh, yes please."

_There is a door to your left. Go through into the bathroom._

Alice nodded, finally releasing her grip on the cabinet. She walked over to the door - funny, she hadn't noticed it before - and stopped before she entered.

"Thank you, TARDIS," she said, just above a whisper.

Understanding ran through her as the TARDIS gave a mumble of acceptance. Alice still didn't like her, but she was grateful.

Nodding again absently to herself, she turned the doorknob and stepped into the bathroom. Sure enough, there was a large shower-come-bath in the corner of the room and plenty of fresh linen towels and bathmats. It was the cleanest bathroom she had been in before, with no soap stains on the floor or damp up the walls. Everything seemed to shine and when Alice slipped into the shower, she couldn't help her smile. At the Care Home, she had always been last in the bathroom and the immersion heater would have packed up, and so the water was always cold. And they didn't have a heater at home. It was the first time she had had a warm shower.

It was undeniably a moment that would stick in her mind for a very long time. A little sad, really.

* * *

The Doctor and Rose were quietly chatting in the console room when Alice returned, her hair now clean and her clothes changed (courtesy of the TARDIS). She rounded the corner into the console room and hovered awkwardly by the doorway until Rose spotted her.

"Alice! You're awake," she smiled and beckoned her over.

The Doctor looked over her in concern as she came to sit next to Rose on the seats. She kept her back straight and gaze averted to the floor.

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked, his eyes still raking over her.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks for...well…y'know," Alice trailed off lamely.

The Doctor nodded in understanding.

"What're you going to do now?" he asked, choosing his wording carefully, Rose watching him.

Alice glanced up at him briefly but found his gaze too intense and instead focussed on fiddling her her hands while she spoke, "I have no idea. I can't go back to the care home and I obviously can't stay with...M-mum. And there's Avaritia to worry about."

Rose and the Doctor exchanged looks over her head. Alice was used to adults doing that, especially her councillors.

"Well," the Doctor began carefully. "We _do _have an option for you. That is, if you want it."

Alice closed her eyes tightly. _No, please don't. Don't make it harder. _

"If you want to, we completely understand if you don't, but if you want to, you could…stay here. With us. In the TARDIS."

There it was. And this time, it wasn't just a voice in her mind saying it; it was a person. Alice licked her lips and gathered the courage to look him in the eye.

"I couldn't ask that of you. I'm not your responsibility to look after. And anyway, you wouldn't want me tagging along and dragging you down."

_Don't you dare start crying you idiot! Don't you dare, don't you dare, _her mind threatened and she reeled back the tears. Her mind was right. There was absolutely no way she was going to appear weaker than she already was in front of them.

Rose looped an arm around her shoulders, to which Alice repressed a flinch, "Hey, you wouldn't be dragging us down! It'll be fun to have another girl around here. Put the Doctor in his place."

"Oi!" the Doctor said, affronted. "But she's right Alice; we'd love to have you around here. And don't take this the wrong way, but you aren't exactly overflowing with options."

"You really wouldn't want me around here. I... I have too many issues that even I can't count."

She remembered the furious scribbles of the councillors on their little clipboards, diagnosing problems that Alice wasn't even aware she had. Each one of those scribbles weighed down on her. And they would continue to way down on her until she proved them wrong.

Well what better way was there than to go with the Doctor and Rose and do good. The pathetic little girl with thousands of scribbles to her name saving planets. That would show them.

... No. It sounded too much of a fantasy. She would be more of a hindrance than a help.

_You won't know until you find out, Alice._

Stop. Stop. Stop. STOP! She had made her decision and it was a rational one. She was going to get her head out of the clouds and... go back to the Care Home, no matter how much she didn't want to.

"We've all got problems. And no-one's got more ghosts than me, Alice," the Doctor's voice broke through her internal conflict.

Alice blinked up at him with a concerned frown.

"What do you mean?"

She realised than Rose had left them to busy herself in one of the many corridors to give them some privacy. The Doctor moved from where he was leaning against the console to take Rose's seat next to Alice. Alice subconsciously shuffled to put a little more space between them.

"I've already told you that I'm a Time Lord, not a human. Well, when I was younger - a _lot _younger - there was a war on my planet."

"Between who? Other Time Lords?" Alice asked, suddenly interested. History had always interested her.

"Time Lords and a race called the Daleks," the Doctor answered. "It went on for longer than I want to remember and so many people around me were dying. My own people and Daleks alike."

"I'm sorry," Alice murmured, her eyes sad.

"I was the only one who could stop it. Who could get rid of the Daleks. But by doing that, I had to get rid of my own people too," the Doctor looked down his long nose to the floor, his leather-clad arms crossed over his chest.

"Did you?"

He nodded, "I had to. And now I have to live with that. That's why I travel and help people - to make up for what I did and to take my mind off it, I suppose. There's nothing like it, Alice, I promise."

"I just... I'm terrified," she admitted. If he had opened up to her, she would to him. To an extent. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do anymore. I don't know who to trust. And even if I did come with you, what if I did something wrong? What if instead of helping someone, I do the opposite?"

The Doctor gave her a half-smile, "There's no answer to that. Everyone makes mistakes. The only way that you would know what it's like is if you give it a try. And as for being scared, I'd be surprised if you weren't."

"When you say 'give it a try'..."

"Come on a trip with us. Just one. And if you don't like it, we'll take you back to wherever you want to go and won't bother you again."

"You'd never bother me," Alice rushed out quickly.

The Doctor smirked again, "That wasn't the part of that sentence that I was looking for an answer to, but it's a comfort to know. What do you think? One trip? Consider it a thank you for saving our lives."

"After I endangered them."

The Doctor shrugged, "We would've gotten 'round to it anyway. Are you in?"

Alice chewed her tongue. One trip. She could do that. She could do one trip. One trip and that was it. She couldn't get into too much trouble in one trip. And if she didn't like it, she would go back to the Care Home. And if she liked it... well she'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

"You're sure I wouldn't be tying you down?" Alice checked suspiciously. "I'd rather you'd tell me than find out later and feel guilty."

"You would in no way be tying us down, or dragging us down, or tagging along," Rose told her with amusement from the doorway of the corridor she had been in. "Honestly! You deserve to see out there, Alice. It's amazing."

Hesitantly, Alice nodded, "Okay. But just one. And if I'm being a pain, tell me."

"You won't be," she assured her.

"Right well I think your trip might have to wait for a while because when we ended up at your café, we were actually on the way to visit Rose's mother before her daughter decided to make French toast on the navigation software," the Doctor glared at Rose who held her hands up in surrender.

"That's fine," Alice said. "Where does your mum live?"

"Powell Estate in London," Rose replied. "Other side of the city from yours."

Alice sighed a mixture of relief and sadness. Even though she knew her mother didn't want her, it was a wound Alice knew would take a long time to heal and she knew she would never forget the moment the door slammed in her face.

"Alice?"

"Hm? Sorry, uh what were you saying?" Alice snapped back to reality.

"We're here," the Doctor said, pointing to the doors.

"God, I'll never get used to that. It doesn't even feel like you're moving!"

Rose opened the doors first and stepped out, grinning at the sight of her home. She turned to the Doctor who was leaning casually against the TARDIS.

"How long have I been gone?" she asked.

Alice stepped out, the sound of the rustling litter very familiar to her ears. It was unbelievably disorientating to switch between locations with a blink of an eye.

"About twelve hours," the Doctor replied in amusement.

Rose's face split into a beam as she began to laugh, looking around the graffitied walls with affection.

"Right," she said, composing herself. "I won't be long, I just wanna see my mum."

"What're you gonna tell her?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"I dunno… I've been to the year five billion, and I've only been gone twelve hours? No, I'll just tell her I spent the night at Shareen's. See you two later," she suddenly turned. "Oh, and don't you disappear."

The Doctor nodded, agreeing with her terms and turned to Alice, who was tracing some of the graffiti with her finger.

"Did you grow up on a council estate?" he asked.

Alice nodded, "When I lived with Mum, yeah. It was actually quite nice. There was always someone to talk to, always gossip."

"Ah, the bane of the human existence," the Doctor joked, eyeing the graffiti she was admiring. "What's that?"

"A wolf, it looks like. It's weird, some bozo sticks a globe in a fridge and calls it art, another does a masterpiece like this and it's vandalism."

"You like art?"

"No," Alice's face contorted in disgust. "I like looking at it for a bit, but I lose concentration easily. The extent of my artistic abilities is stick men. Or, if I'm feeling particularly close with my inner Picasso, a solid man with stick arms."

_You're talking too much, quieten down, _she reminded herself.

The Doctor smirked but cocked his head to the side as he saw something fluttering from a lamppost. Alice also noticed him looking and followed him over to it. He pulled it down and paled.

"What? Missing person?" Alice guessed.

The Doctor said nothing, just thrust the paper into her hands and took off where Rose had come at a sprint.

"What's wrong?!" Alice shouted after him, but he had already gone.

However, as she looked down at the poster, she answered her own question. She set off at the same pace as the Doctor, seeing him turn into one of the block of flats.

"Doctor! Wait!"

But he showed no signs of waiting as he burst through the front door of one of the apartments, Alice following.

Inside, Jackie had Rose in a tight embrace with tear tracks down her face.

"It's not twelve hours, it's twelve months. You've been gone a whole year. Sorry," the Doctor apologised with a smile as if he'd smashed a mug, not kept a daughter away from her mother for a year.

Alice groaned.

Alice stood awkwardly in the background as the policeman began to interrogate Rose. Well, he _tried _to interrogate her; most of it was coming from Jackie.

"The hours I've sat here, days and weeks and months, all on my own. I thought you were dead, and where were you? Travelling. What the hell does that mean, travelling? That's no sort of answer," she turned her terrifying glare on the policeman. "You ask her. She won't tell me. That's all she says. Travelling."

"That's what I was doing," Rose tried to explain.

"With your passport still in the drawer?" Jackie countered. "It's just one lie after another."

"I meant to phone. I really did. I just… forgot," she finished lamely.

"What, for a year? You forgot for a year? And I am left sitting here. I just don't believe you. Why won't you tell me where you've been?!"

Jackie turned to Alice.

"And who are you then? You been with her? Did he pick you up 'en all?" Jackie interrogated.

"No… I… um… Rose and the Doctor helped me… they didn't –"

"This is just a misunderstanding," the Doctor finished for her. "Alice needed help so we brought her with us. Before that, I sort of employed Rose as my companion."

"When you say companion, is this a sexual relationship?" the policeman asked.

"No," the Doctor and Rose answered in unison.

"Oh."

They both turned to Alice, whose cheeks had turned bright crimson.

"I thought you two where together," she admitted. "You act as if you are together."

"We're not in a relationship at all," Rose said firmly.

"Then what are you in? Because you, you waltz in here all charm and smiles, and the next thing I know, she vanishes off the face of the Earth! How old are you then? Forty? Forty five? What, did you find her on the Internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?" Jackie spat.

"I am a Doctor!"

"Prove it, stitch this mate."

Alice's eyes widened as Jackie's hand connected with the Doctor's face in a swift slap.

"Mum!" Rose exclaimed as the Doctor groaned, holding his face.

Alice grabbed his arm and led him to the door, "We'll give you two some privacy."

Rose gave her a thankful smile as she turned to patch things up with an irate looking Jackie. The two continued out into the stairwell, Alice quickly dropping the Doctor's arm as if she hadn't meant to touch him in the first place.

"Where are we going?" the Doctor asked, following the young girl.

"Roof. Rooftops are the quietest places in flats," Alice explained pushing open the door onto the top.

"I can't believe she slapped me. She _slapped _me. I mean, actually _slapped me_!"

"Are you okay?" Alice asked shyly, jumping up to sit on a cooling ledge.

"A mother slapped me," he continued to rant, ignoring Alice's question. "I got slapped by a mother! I've never been slapped before. Well, once or twice. Three times. Four at a push. Did you see how she slapped me? I can't believe that!"

"Well you did take her daughter away for a year without telling her," Alice paused as she saw the Doctor's annoyed expression and quickly altered her statement. "But, err, she shouldn't have… slapped you."

Alice fidgeted uncomfortably. _Well done, you've managed to annoy him already. What did I tell you! Just keep your mouth shut!_

Rose joined them a few moments later looking emotionally drained and worn out. She walked over and sat next to Alice.

"What did you say then?" Alice asked in concern.

"I can't tell her. I can't even begin. She's never going to forgive me. And I missed a year," she looked to the Doctor. "Was it good?"

"Middling."

"You're so useless," Rose muttered, shaking her head at him.

"Well, if it's this much trouble, are you going to stay here now?"

Alice noticed how he was forcing his voice to be nonchalant, his eyes betraying otherwise. Rose didn't see.

"I don't know. I can't do that to her again, though."

"Well, she's not coming with us," the Doctor stated bluntly.

Rose burst out laughing; the very notion of her mother travelling with them was cringe worthy, toe curling and completely hilarious.

"No chance, she'd turn it into the pink palace."

Alice giggled quietly; her mother had never been one for the colour pink. It showed up the whiskey stains. Alice stopped laughing.

"I don't do families," the Doctor continued.

"She slapped you!"

"Nine hundred years of time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother."

"Your face," Rose chuckled as she recollected it.

"It hurt!" the Doctor defended.

"You're so gay... When you say nine hundred years?"

"That's my age."

Alice's jaw dropped, "You're nine hundred years old?" she immediately realised what she had said and backtracked. "Sorry, that was rude…"

The Doctor shrugged, not seeing what the fuss was.

"But, but you look about forty!" Rose continued, looking stunned.

He looked offended, "Oh come on, late thirties at a push. It's the hair isn't it?"

"Well Mum was right about something. That is one _hell_ of an age gap."

"There's also the problem of being a different species," the Doctor added.

Rose shook her head in amusement, "Every conversation with you just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to. I've seen all that stuff up there, the size of it, and I can't say a word. Aliens and spaceships and things, and I'm the only person on planet Earth who knows they exist… apart from you Alice."

"But I haven't actually seen any, excluding the Doctor but he looks human," Alice shrugged.

"No, actually, you look Timelord," the Doctor corrected.

Before Alice could respond, an ominous rattling sound issued from the distance, evolving into an ear-splitting horn as a gigantic dark cloud thundered above them. Alice jumped down from the ledge, joining the Doctor and Rose in a crouched position with her hands over her ears as the cloud passed over their heads.

But it wasn't a cloud.

"Oh that just isn't fair," Rose grumbled, a smile on her lips, though.

"It's a spaceship… oh my God, it's a spaceship," Alice's face was a mixture of blank shock, terror, and excitement. She wasn't meant to be excited. This was all wrong. All wrong.

"There's something off your bucket list," the Doctor nudged her.

"It's a spaceship. It's an actual spaceship," she muttered.

The ship shot through the air, murky smoke wafting from the back as it flew over London with a splutter. The wing skimmed the side of Big Ben, shattering the glass and causing the hands to fall to the ground. The power finally draining from the vessel, it plunged towards the Thames and crashed into its water, a tsunami of water rising up above it before it settled, motionless.

The Doctor turned to Alice, "Your first adventure might have come a little sooner than we thought."

* * *

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